Durin Strong
by MiLady Oakenshield
Summary: EPILOGUE!The line of Durin would not be so easily broken. The emotional trial they've gone through is endless, but then they are reminded of what being of the line of Durin means... Mainly involved Thorin and Dis, with some inclusion of Fili and baby!Kili. Lots of feels. No slash.
1. Returning Home

Chapter One  
**Returning Home**

By MiLady Oakenshield

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"_A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it."_

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_Kildri sat in silence with his wife, he on one side of their small kitchen table and her seated on the other. They sipped very quietly at their stew, as quietly as one could while eating rabbit stew with cooked vegetables, but quite hard to do so and resist the urge to slurp it down. More than often it was just the two of them in the house and so quiet was definitely not uncommon. The occasional visitor would be her brother- though he never announced when he would be coming and would always just showing; annoying her to no end every time he did so. Dis was a good hostess. She would cater to him on the whim and sometimes spoil him by bringing a bagged lunch to the forge. He was teased for it but it was something both siblings looked forward to._

_Her husband couldn't cook worth a damn. He tried once, and ended up putting Thorin in bed for half a week with severe nausea and diarrhea. By that end, Dis had forbidden Kildri from ever touching anymore of the cooking. His job was to shut up, eat it and enjoy it. And for the most part, he seemed perfectly content with the idea. He enjoyed her cooking anyway and would always compliment her choices, though he was beginning to get tired of rabbit stew. Try as she might to put some variety in their meals, sometimes their choices were limited. There was never a bounty of meat and not everyone in city was willing to trade or sell to dwarves. _

_Some dwarves started hunting more for themselves. Dis knew Thorin had begun going on hunting trips with Dwalin and Bofur. And on those occasions, she would get herself some caribou or even a nice deer. _

_Somewhere between thinking about where their next meal was coming from and remembering he had something important to say, Kildri looked over to his worn leather pack by the door while he noticed his wife was distracted by her meal. Looking back to her, the yellow-bearded and brown-eyed dwarf husband realized she had been watching him and the perk in her brows meant she was curious and either waiting for him to say something, or waiting for the right time to ask when he was leaving; obviously the pack she caught him stuffing the other night had meant something._

"_When?"_

_Kildri sighed and lowered his spoon into his bowl. "Tomorrow morning. Early. Thorin and I travel to Gondor and I suspect we won't be back for several months." He watched her eyes widen and knows this wasn't the kind of news pleasant to her ears. He hated leaving her as often as he did but he didn't have that choice to stay home when her work as a seamstress was hardly enough._

_Dis's disappoint was definitely obvious. "Kili- " she started, using a nickname for him she had started calling him long before they were married and still just courting each other. " –you promised me you would not be taking such commissions anymore. We were talking about starting a family. We can't do that if you are always working. I cannot be expected to raise dwarflings by myself- "_

_He slammed his open hand on the table, causing her to jump. "I do what I do to keep you happy, wife! I do not do it lightly. If I could, I would stay home with you more often. Do you not see? I want to be able to shower you with everything you could want… " He looked down at his bowl. "…but you and I both know a baby is not one of them. After the losses of other children we've conceived, I refuse to put myself though that again. My heart cannot take it and I know yours can't either."_

_Dis immediately climbed away from the table and sealed herself away in their bedroom. The door slammed behind her. Kildri remained sitting at the table for several minutes while he thought about it but then he started hearing her cries and that always put a darkened feeling in his heart. He made a promise to her brother to never make her cry and he always managed somehow to forget that._

_Kildri moved away from the kitchen table and followed after her. He turned the knob and pushed it open just an inch. He peaked his head in first with his brown eyes moving onto their bed where she lay curled up in a small ball and her plump brunette locks cushioned into her pillows. She seemed to know he was there but yet made no motion to sit up and look at him. She was waiting for him to come to her. Alright then. Kildri moved further into the bedroom shutting the door behind him. He walked across their floor until he was standing at his side of the bed, his wife's back to him._

_Kildri lowered himself to the bed and immediately pulled his arm around her, then burying his face in the crook of her neck, letting himself breathe in her sweet scent. His fingers intertwined with hers. Dis smiled despite her tears then brought her husband's hand to her lips and skipped her mouth across each of his knuckles. She held his hand against her heart then turned slowly to face him. Kildri lifted a hand to the side of her face, his fingers memorizing every line of her jaw and cheek bones. _

_He brought his lips to her forehead, then to the tip of her nose. "I apologize, Dis," he admitted in a solemn, low voice. "My words were never meant to hurt you and I should have thought about the ones I said before I said them. I want to give you children but I fear that it is my fault you have not been able to produce any." Kildri looked saddened by this._

"_You are not to blame, my husband." She lifted her mouth up to his lips. "I will still love you in spite of everything." Her fingers started pulling at the strings of his tunic. "And we can always practice for now…"_

_Kildri smirked. "I can never deny you."_

_He slipped her clothing from her body then removed his own and made love to his wife several times that night._

..

Seven months and three weeks to the day, Kildri and Thorin found themselves looking upon a familiar sight. The one thing Kildri looked forward to was knowing his wife would be waiting for him, and a warm fire would be cracking in the hearth with a pint of ale at the table. He was so hungry for her attention and the warmth of her body that he could make love to her for the next week. He looked forward to doting upon her the way she deserved. With the purse of money made from the commission, he'd be able to buy her that silver necklace he always wanted to but never could because he could never afford nice things.

In a lot of respects, Kildri owed a great deal of gratitude to Thorin; it was him that introduced the yellow-bearded traveler to Dis, gave him a job and place to stay. It was Thorin that offered him a friend when he had none. Kildri had made the Blue Mountains his home and he was glad to be seeing it again after such a long time on the road.

"Welcome home, Thorin."

Thorin lifted his head and saw what his brother-in-law could see; a village crowned in all the glory and splendor he'd come to love for so many years- their home, lying out in the open, as if nothing had changed at all. Something inside his chest felt warm and feverish. At this pace, they would be home before the fall of the sun which always put him in a jubilant mood; he hated traveling at night. _"A dangerous travel it is."_ His father would say.

When in Gondor, they had been treated to a night's stay at the inn while their ponies were given new shoes and groomed. On the road, they would hunker down in any cave they could find using the bed rolls they dragged along with them. The occasional town would pop up here and there, and the inn keeper would be more than willing to offer them a room but it would be a welcomed comfort to be able to sleep in their own beds again.

..

_Kildri woke up that morning when the sun was still new and the birds were still in their nests and Dis was still buried naked under their bed sheets. He left a kiss on her brow, dressed appropriately for travel and slipped out of their bedroom. He did not think about breakfast for himself when he wandered to the door for his riding boots and his pack. His sword and small recurve bow lay out next to a quiver of freshly binded arrows, courtesy of his wife no doubt. She must have done it sometime early in the morning while he still slept._

_He grabbed his riding boots and dragged them to the couch by the far window in the living room where he dropped carelessly down onto one of the cushions. Kildri slipped his feet into each one of his boots and laced them up, tugging the strings as tightly together as possible. While it might have seemed that he could leave his home unnoticed, a presence in the doorway had announced herself in nothing but a sheet wrapped around her bare body, the folds held tightly against her bosom. _

_She cleared her throat once, drawing his attention, then walked to him. "Did you really think you could leave my side without a proper goodbye?" Her large hips swayed this way and that under the protection of her baby blue sheet. They framed her voluptuous form in a perfect and delicate form nicely._

"_I thought I did that last night?" His left brow had lifted but the corners of his lips had tugged to a smirk._

_Dis nodded. "That you did but I meant seeing you off. Did you honestly think you could have me wake up cold to your presence and an empty house?"_

"_No." Kildri rose to his feet and took her hands. "I knew there was no way of leaving without saying goodbye." He raised each hand to his lips and kissed them in turn. "I will return to you as quickly as I can. I promise. And then- " His voice broke off as his right hand begun trailing down her jaw, to her neck and across her collar bone to her chest. His fingers casually brushed over the rise of her breasts then his lips came down to hers._

"_Oh, you are such a tease." She lifted a hand to his tunic, entwined her fingers in the draw strings and pulled him in close to her for a kiss._

Kildri smiled in spite of himself. The thought of sleeping with his wife in their bed on their first night back had his loins burning. A knot in his stomach had twisted. It would be a surprise to see him so much earlier than expected. He pictured a grand meal to celebrate with all the finest cakes, biscuits and sausages this side of Ered Luin. His wife was such an excellent cook. She spoiled him rotten.

So after he and Thorin brought their ponies to the stables, pulled off the tackle and brushed the animals down, Kildri was more than ready to go home. He couldn't get away fast enough it seemed. The second he could, he fled the stables and no doubt left his brother-in-law standing there with a smirk on his face.

When he reached his small but comfortable house between three tall standing trees and an open front yard, Kildri twisted the knob open to his front door and pushed it open with the brightest smile on his face than the last night he was home and his wife was singing his praises before she mounted him like an experienced rider would a thorough bred.

He had already shed off one boot by the time he reached for the second and shrugged off the arrow quiver from his shoulder to the floor. His constructed bow rested next to it. "Dis?" Kildri's voice rang soft and low, afraid that he might startle her if his voice was too high; she was no stranger to raising a blade to someone walking into her home uninvited.

When she didn't answer and he noticed the candles in the house had been extinguished, he went on to assume she had gone to bed. The door was slowly shut behind him as he started moving across the floor towards the bed room. He could see the blunt flicker of light from a small crack. He gave the door a light push until he could see inside the room. His wife was sound asleep in their bed, resting on her right side as she so often did. The sheets and furs were pulled up to her neck and her dark hair flowed evenly over her neck.

Smiling to himself, Kildri walked over to her. He brushed hair from her face and leaned down to place a soft kiss on the brow just above her left eyelid. Dis stirred at this motion. A soft groan vibrated her throat as she turned, her shoulders nudging the sheets ever so slightly as her body moved. When her lids opened, she looked upon her husband's face and smiled.

"Hey. You're home." She sounded both surprised and pleased simultaneously; Dis did not expect him home so early, nor did she think she'd when he'd come home. "How did it go?"

"As well as can be expected. How are you?"

"_We're_ good."

We?

Kildri stared hard. What exactly did she mean by we? He was suddenly nervous. Did she have someone else here with her? Would he have a reason to be jealous? His unblinking facial expression gave him away. Chuckling to herself, Dis took his hand and placed it on her very swollen belly. Kildri's heart jumped into his throat when he felt something kick against his palm. He looked down to his wife's heavily pregnant tummy then slowly slipped in behind her whilst still keeping his hand against her body.

He waited a moment until he felt another kick, and then a smile brightened his face. His hand moved around Dis's belly more as if he were studying it in great detail. As Kildri lifted his head again to have his eyes stare into his wife's face, he lifted his second hand to her brow and smoothed over the ridge of her forehead with his thumb. She took his hand and kissed his fingers.

He stole a kiss then wrapped one protective around them both. "Yes we are."

**Author's Note-And there is chapter one. I'm considering getting rid of the prologue and just starting the story with this chapter but I haven't fully decided yet. Please let me know what you think of this chapter by submitting your reviews. I look forward to reading them… and I will gladly give out Thorin shaped brownies to those who leave a review ^_^**


	2. Old Wives Tales

Chapter Two: Old Wives Tales

_Three weeks later…_

"…why is it that I can make some of the finest jewelry, steel and nails- " his voice carried as he moved from room to the adjacent one, before walking into the bedroom. " –but I can't for the life of me put together a baby crib…?"

Hammer in hand, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, Thorin picked his head up. "Because, and I distinctly remember this, you offered to help me."

"Oh. Right."

Kildri pushed his sleeves up and grabbed a hammer. While his brother-in-law sanded down one rounded edge near the head of the crib as it lay at a tilted angle, Kildri picked up another plank and started hammering it together with another curved arch.

It had been three weeks, five days, seventeen hours, thirty six minutes and fifteen seconds to the day since news of Dis's pregnancy had spread. While the last few weeks of it had been spent inside the house at her husband's request, Kildri had been busy at work putting in some over time. And last week, it had been his idea to build a crib for the baby. He convinced would-be uncle that he would help in the work load if Thorin could come up with the supplies. So after the cast out king bought the wood and crafted the nails, he and Kildri cut down each plank to size including the two sides of the crib and both headboards.

And when each piece was shaped how they wanted it, Kildri and Thorin moved them into the house in what would be the baby's room. A few other bits of furniture had been put together to make up a changing table, a small dresser of clothing and anything else a baby would need. It was nothing overly spectacular; a room reminiscent of a man with little means but an honest man who fought to give his wife nothing but the best his money could buy.

As he finished putting nails in one side of the plank and grabbed another, Dis walked into the room with two steaming cups of hot cider. She put one down on a small night stand and padded across the floor to her husband's left side to hand him another.

"Thank you, my love."

He took the mug from her and brought it to his lips, inhaling the sweet smell of cider in through his nostrils. The lip of the ceramic mug tilted against his mouth and the warm, tart beverage trickled down his throat. Dis rubbed her hand over the back of Kildri's neck then crossed over to her brother and kissed his hair.

Thorin fell back on his heels and surveyed his work thus far. Whenever he could build something with his bare hands, he was happy. He made himself proud of the work he did. Building things kept his mind occupied and his hands busy. He didn't have to think about the war nor the death that become of it. Building something with his bare hands meant he had accomplished something.

He picked up her hand from his shoulder and placed a chaste kiss across her knuckles. "What do you think of the work, sister? Is it something a child of yours can be proud of?"

"Any of child of mine would be proud to sleep in this room." She brushed her fingers across his skin warmed by the fire. Then she laid one hand tenderly over her swollen belly. "As he would know of his uncle and father who built this crib."

Kildri lowered the mug from his lips and picked his head up. "Are we so sure you carry a son? We could be having a daughter." His voice sounded sure of it.

Dis chuckled, subconsciously rubbing her fingers over the babe. "The way I carry it suggests otherwise. I've heard talk from the women in the village; if you carry your baby low in your belly than a boy is certain."

"And if you got dry hands and cold feet, break out the baby blue," Thorin added with a warm chuckle in his throat. The tone suggested he didn't believe any of this for a second but was sure to play along.

Kildri had shared in this, adding his quip; "She may not have very dry hands but Aule knows she's got some damn cold feet." His joking manner earned him a glare from his wife. "We mean no harm, Dis. They are just old wives' tales you hear. They never mean anything."

"They must ring with some truth."

"Aye," Thorin was quick to add, "which is why Aiurlie down at the butcher's shop bore a girl when she and her husband expected a boy. Our mother used to listen to those tales and then you were born so how true can they really be?"

Dis fumed a little. "Drink your cider before it runs cold, brother."

Their laughter still rang through the room as Dis left them. Thorin did as he was told as soon as she was gone – chugged it all in one shot. He refused to actually accept what his sister believed because in his heart, he wasn't going to start thinking of the babe as either male or female when two nephews and one niece had already been buried by his calloused hands.

The look in his eyes went hardly unnoticed by his brother-in-law as they returned to working. He was not about to watch Thorin dig another shallow grave. As happy as he was, Kildri couldn't shake the feeling in the pit of his stomach that building this crib for his child would mean nothing. He prayed to Aule to be folding diapers and nursing bottles of goat's milk in the near future. His hands were meant for holding a child, not carving a name on a gravestone.

**Author's Note: I think I've decided that this story will be told in varieties of one-shots, two-parters and drabbles. So if anyone has an idea or a prompt to share, leave them in your reviews. And the next person who does so will get a sugar cake**


	3. Labor and Delivery - Part One

Thank you everyone for the reviews thus far. Now, Fili's birth :D

**CHAPTER THREE  
**Labor and Delivery (Part One)

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"_My mother groaned, my father wept, and into the dangerous world I leapt." –William Blake_

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Dinner had come and gone; Thorin was invited to stay and the dwarf king could hardly say no to a free meal at his sister's house, especially with a growling belly. They had venison stew with garlic potatoes and pints of ale were nothing to turn down. Both dwarf men ate with such gusto that one would put up the assumption they've never had such a splendid meal before. When in reality, those people would be only half correct.

And after dinner, the dwarf men took it upon themselves to clean up whilst Dis washed up then retired to their pipes and full pints of ale to the living room. It wouldn't be until much later when their tobacco ran dry in their pipes and they had downed a second pint each that Thorin thought about returning to his small place to sleep in the forge. But a crack of thunder halted those thoughts, and the dwarrow found themselves peeling back the living room curtains to see rain.

Kildri knew he would not allow his brother-in-law to travel in this increasing weather. So he grabbed a pillow and a heavy fur from his bedroom. Thorin would sleep there that night – which would only prove to be useful later on. He stripped himself of his tunic, pulled out his braids and carded his fingers through his black hair. The couch was not at all that comfortable but better than the accommodations at the forge where he'd question whether or not he would get any sleep at all. His brother-in-law curled up next to his pregnant wife and draped one arm over his child.

But Thorin didn't fall asleep right away. He laid there on his back staring up at the low ceiling while listening to the booming storm raging out that window. He loved the sound of thunderstorms; his sister didn't much care for them. When they were younger, and the storms scared her, she would curl up next to him in bed and pillow her head on his firm chest. His comforting arms around her and his even breathing would dull out the screaming gale outside. Thorin would pull her into his chest and whisper sweet words into her ear until she would fall asleep against him.

He pictured those days when she would come to him for his love, and cry on his shoulder if she was scolded, and the times his knuckles turned raw after handling would-be courters of his sister's who might have dishonored her. Thorin smiled at the memory and finally closed his eyes.

Kildri had a habit of fidgeting in his sleep, leaving Dis unprotected by his arms. She curled up against her pillow until a loud crackle of thunder startled her awake. She sat up quickly and looked beside her at her sleeping husband then to window on the other side of their room. Suddenly, something stirred inside her like a red hot poker being dragged across her flesh. Dis's hand went to her belly. She clutched her protruding abdomen and made a soft whimper; not quite painful enough, but definitely uncomfortable. Her mouth lay agape as another wave of pain struck her. She shut her eyes tight and tried to breathe through the growing pain.

Dis threw the covers from her frame then swung her legs over the side of the bed. She saw blood pooling in small trickles at her feet and her heart was in her throat. The dwarf woman climbed to her feet under a second roll of thunder brought her down to her knees. Tears were in her eyes as she reached between her legs and pulled her bloodied hand away. Dis started crawling for the door. She had just barely reached for the knob when heavy contractions put her on her back.

Her breathing started to labor and quicken with a rise and fall of her chest. "Kil-Kildri…" Her husband's name fell from her parted lips in nothing but a strangled whisper. Dis attempted to reach him when she fell to a fetal position clutching her belly with her knees curled towards her distended abdomen.

It was her screaming that brought Thorin out his sleep. The covers were off as he leapt to his feet and took off for the source of the screaming though he knew the sound belonged to his sister. The shrill cry burned the beating heart in his chest. He reached her bedroom to find his beloved baby sister on the floor already in the throes of labor, and his dear brother-in-law looking frantic while he held her hand tight and smoothed her hair. The blood caught his attention. A trail of it started at the bed and ended in a small pool where she lay with nothing to prop up against.

Thorin didn't panic. His heart was fighting for space inside his chest and he felt completely sick to his stomach, but the last thing he needed to do was panic. He ignored the rolling thunder on the outside and the rain pounding against the house while fleeing to his sister's body. He put a hand to her belly to feel for movement of the child she carried but could feel nothing.

The pain was so unreal that Dis didn't even recognize her own brother's presence. "Oh, Aule- " she breathed heavily, panting in small yet quick waves, " –it's happening again." She was losing the child she carried; Dis was sure of it, just like the last three of her pregnancies.

Another crack of thunder. The brief flicker of light brought by it illuminated the streak of blood on the floor. Thorin felt sick. All manner of bile purged his throat. His need to vomit was intense. He looked to his brother-in-law; his dark eyes swimming with fear. Neither of them knew what to do. It was the first time in Thorin's life his pounding ever brought him pain. The way it threw itself violently against his ribcage made it difficult to inhale.

His sister's screaming about brought his thoughts back into his head as he suddenly found himself kneeling in front of her. The always prepared, always stoic dwarf was at a loss. He tried to think of days his mother birthed his siblings and how difficult they were for her. But most of all, he tried to recall what the midwife had done. He pooled what little knowledge from his past he knew to help him in a moment when he wanted to panic. An automated adrenaline set in.

"Quick, Kildri- " he held his hand out, waiting for something, " –take off your tunic." His fingers lay open for the fabric. When his brother-in-law stripped it off, Thorin ripped it away from his outstretched hand.

When Dis's body was overcome with an overwhelming feeling to push, she grit her teeth together through her pain and bore down on her pelvis as hard as she could. A scream ripped from inside her throat. It was like someone was ripping her open from end to end. There was no stopping wave after wave of nail-biting, crippling pain. Her head lolled back against her husband's lap as she began panting while trying to regain her regular breathing.

Another, more painful contraction had Dis burrowing down again. She drew blood from her lips and swallowed her own saliva. She bore down until her brother was withdrawing from her with a blood soaked child in his arms. Kildri looked away from his wife to see his brother-in-law bringing the newborn to his face. When Thorin started breathing air into the tiny body, Kildri felt his heart clench up in his throat. He glanced a frightful gaze at the panting woman in his lap and held her tighter.

The wee babe suddenly made a small gasping, strangled cry much to Thorin's relief. He immediately brought the child to his chest and held him close against his heart. The dwarf king folded the tunic in on the infant to keep him warm.

Kildri took a moment to smooth back his wife's hair as the woman was fighting to remain conscious. He looked up worried as he made eye contact with his brother-in-law. "Thorin, we have to get Oin. This is too much blood. Way too much… " The panic in his voice was evident if not entirely obvious. He couldn't hide it the way Thorin could.

"We would never be able to reach him in this storm." His eyes remained on the boy child nestled against his heart. He watched with a little reluctance as his tiny chest struggled to rise. It was in that moment when he realized he was going to watch as the life he gave back to his nephew left him again.

Kildri looked at his child resting so peacefully in Thorin's arms. "What do we do?" His head lifted so to look at the shirtless dwarf and for as long as he knew his wife's brother, he never imagined Thorin at such a loss for words.

For the first time in his life, Thorin did not have an answer to such a question.

**End of part one. Looks like both mother and son are in trouble, and with the raging storm there is no way for Kildri and Thorin to get help. What will happen? I promise you will find out soon.**


	4. Labor and Delivery - Part Two

**Chapter Four  
**Labor and Delivery (Part Two)

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"_A woman becomes a mother when she gets pregnant; a man becomes a father when he sees his baby for the first time."_

* * *

By the time the storm finally broke, it was nearly dawn and Thorin had been awake for hours. His eyes were weary from the lack of sleep. He took a small number of shallow breaths then glanced away to the dwarf lad sitting upright less than a few feet from him, and the lass lying prone in his lap; her breathing was scarce and the only small comfort in knowing she was still alive was the ever so slight rise and fall of her chest. He stole a brief glimpse away from her to look at the oh so tiny dwarfling in his arms. By some miracle, the child still lived. Thorin watched for several painful seconds as the wee babe's chest rose and fell. He moved one hand over the baby's forehead. For the first time since the child was born, he noticed the small wisp of blonde hair.

Kildri could only watch though he felt his heart swell at the sight. He pulled his eyes away from Thorin and his newborn – he had yet to know whether it was a son or a daughter – to steal a look at his wife, who looked just as fragile, just as helpless as the babe in his brother-in-law's arms. He realized they couldn't stay there but he was too afraid to move.

But Thorin was able to swallow whatever fears he had and think about what Kildri couldn't. He'd be strong for both of them. After tugging the tunic tightly around the naked babe, he forced a lump down his throat then spoke to Kildri in a firm, commanding tone of voice that left no room for discussion. He shifted his body closer to his sister and moved the entire weight of her body into his lap. Her husband was on his feet within seconds and running for the door. He'd hated leaving them but he trusted they were in safe hands with Thorin. He had to; it was the only thing that was calming his racing heartbeat.

Crap. Now that he was alone in the room with his sister and nephew, he didn't rightly know what to do aside from what he was already doing. He wasn't above admitting he was scared in that very moment even though anyone looking at his face would argue otherwise. He moved two fingers to her neck and passed his hand over her face. Thorin found his fingers entwining with hers as an arm curled tighter around the babe. His calloused hand pulled the corner back ever so slightly to show off the infant's reddened face.

He was so lost in looking deep into the boy child's face and feeling his heart swell that he didn't notice when a weary-eyed Oin still dressed in his night clothes came barging in with Kildri fresh on his heels. The healer took the babe from Thorin's arms though used much coaxing to get the dwarf king to unlatch himself from his sister. He ordered Kildri to lift Dis to the bed then chased both dwarf men from the bedroom.

Both Thorin and Kildri were stained with blood but neither left the other side of the door. The dwarf king dropped into a small pile of pillows while a new father anxious for news on his child's condition and that of the mother leaned himself against the wall. But doing so lasted for only so long. Kildri was restless. He couldn't stand there without knowing what was going on. The minutes had gone by without anything save for their breathing.

Kildri began pacing, wringing his hands nervously. "I hate being out here." He looked back at the closed door and hoped that by pressing his ear against it, he could hear Oin moving about and quite possibly the voices his heart needed to hear. But there was silence, and then a sigh. "I should be in there with them…" He turned away from the door and his breathing tightened.

"You would only get in Oin's way." Kildri shot him a glance, but Thorin's words were true even with the curt and cold chill behind them. He was just as concerned though steeled his expression from showing anything his heart was feeling. "And you would do your son no good right now anyway."

Kildri scoffed, turning away from his king and his friend for just a moment before something in Thorin's voice forced him to look back. His eyes danced there on his face. He felt a tight knot in his heart, then a lump forming deep in his belly. "I have a son? Thorin, do not jest right now."

"I do not."

He looked away from his brother-in-law with a better feeling settling in his chest. He had a son to carry on his name, which was the greatest consolation any dwarf lass could give her husband. None of that would matter if they were to die now. If his son were to die still, even after Thorin breathed life into him, everything he thought and could hope for would all be for naught.

So he resigned himself to worry again. Kildri paced along the floor because that was the only thing he could do not to think about the son he could lose still. Not until he heard the shrill cry of a baby did his pacing cease. His eyes shot the door, as did Thorin's. His heartbeat quickened in his throat. The only thing stopping him from breaking through the bedroom door was a single thought instilled on him by Thorin's own words.

Not until the door opened, and he saw a squalling infant wrapped up in a blanket instead of his tunic held against the healer's chest did Kildri release a breath. He dared to creep up for a closer look. This was the first time since the child's birthing that he was truly able to see him. The tiny body wasn't as bloody as he was when he slithered from his mother's womb.

Kildri used caution as he took the baby from Oin's arms. He felt a strong sense of security and overwhelming responsibility for this new life now fidgeting in the blanket the healer had him wrapped in. Only after he was placed in his father's arms did he calm his movements and look into the man's warm face. Kildri smiled as he laid eyes on his son for the first time. He had the same dark blue eyes his mother did, and the same shade of blonde hair his father possessed. Kildri felt a sense of pride and accomplishment.

He bowed a kiss to the infant's forehead and nuzzled him with his nose. With tears welling up in his eyes and no thought to stop them, he allowed himself to cry. Those last few hours of wondering whether or not the newborn would live were the longest of his life but they all seemed worth it when he held a delicate hand over his son's tiny chest and could feel a heartbeat dancing against his palm. A relieved, overexcited laugh was pulled from his throat as he curled the infant into his own chest, still bare from relenting his tunic to Thorin earlier.

The dwarf king climbed to his feet after many seconds of silence. While he waited a good while for father and son to meet, there was still another life he was concerned about, and it seemed the thought was on the healer's mind as well. "Tell me- " he steeled his expression for fear of any betrayal his thoughts might give. " –what of my sister, Oin? Please tell me she is okay." He wouldn't be able to bare the notion of anything else, or even the suggestion.

Before the healer could answer, there was a straggled, weakened cry of "Thorin?" that pulled both of them from their thoughts. The dwarf king swept his body into the bedroom, crossing the floor to the bedside and dropping to his knees beside his sister in the most undignified manner fit for a king. He took up her hand and graced kisses across her knuckles then placed a hand to her forehead and felt it hot with fever.

Dis could see the tears spring to her brother's eyes. She cradled his head to her chest and started carding his fingers through his dark hair, entwining in every dark strand, in every smooth wavy and braid. Thorin let his arm fall to the other side of her body and his hand to cup her shoulder. A strangled laugh left him as he listened to her heartbeat with a steady _thump-thump_. Relief washed over him and his shoulders shook as his body was suddenly overcome with sobs.

Kildri soon joined them, and Oin as well; neither of them would repeat what they witnessed, because both would agree Thorin was right in his mind to cry. He cried, and cried, and cried until all his tears were spent and his sister's even breathing willed him to sleep.

**Please review if you like what you read. I've read many stories where readers make Thorin out to be this big tough bad ass that can't show emotion. Seriously, he's not a Vulcan. I wanted to show a softer side to him that not many people touch on. **

**Italian Hobbit: ****Oh gosh, that was scary! You really captured the terror of childbirth gone wrong here. Can't wait for what comes next!**

**I hope this chapter puts your mind at ease. And I really do need to thank the others who reviewed so far. You make me smile :D**


	5. Feel Your Heartbeat

**OH MY MAHAL! I did NOT mean for this update to take so long. But, here it is. I knew I had to throw in some Thorin/Fili feels so I hope this works.**

**Chapter Five**  
Feel Your Heartbeat

A lot can happen within a year's time; the leaves change their coloring and fall from their branches, then the winter chill comes and with it the snow that blankets the ground for months, and then it's spring time again and the trees are in full bloom with brilliant reds and greens. No one traveled during the winter months. No one from the outlining lands came in. They were secluded. Thorin much preferred the spring to the winter in any case; better for business anyway.

Work went on in the forge as it normally did; dreadfully boring, save for those occasions when a particular task would arise that would put his skills to the test. It put his hands to work and his mind in constant motion. He liked that. And every night when the bustle in the forge died off, Thorin looked forward to a hot meal at his sister's house. Rabbet stew with potatoes mixed in or salted pork and, on the rare occasion when they could afford it, a plump leg of lamb. The salted pork was a particular favorite of his.

Tonight was a treat; roast duck with sliced onions. Thorin could practically taste it tickling his taste buds on the entire way home; though, it wasn't really his home- he slept comfortably at the forge every night, but he was always welcomed and Dis enjoyed her brother's company.

Whilst toddling down the path, he heard a rumble of thunder and looked up to see the skies darkening. His smoky eyes could not tear themselves away from those grey clouds; all luminous and over powering- frightful, they were, with their commanding presence and not too subtle over tone. His hand clutched the small bouquet of flowers a little tighter to his chest as a restrained way to calm the heart that had started racing. Thorin took a breath, counted to five and then started whistling.

Whistling any tune that happened to pop into his head seemed to help with his nerves; it was implied, but not heavily suggested, that he do so in times of stress as a way to relax himself. Normally Thorin would just throw himself into his work. He never thought whistling would do his conscious a world of good. Thunder rumbled again and Thorin's whistling grew louder. Normally a thunderstorm wasn't a bother for him; he'd be able to fall asleep listening to the pitter patter of rain on the window, or a clash of lightning outside. But for the past year, he found more cause than most to be weary of thunderstorms.

By the time Thorin Oakenshield opened his sister's front door, the whistling had regulated his heart rate to normal. He scraped off the mud from his boots on the corner edge of a mahogany bench just inside; it earned him a warning glare, and a sharp tongue lashing from the woman standing over a boiling pot of water. He gave her a sheepish chuckle as he dropped his sword against the wall then pushed back his hood.

The pleasant smell of his sister's cooking invaded his nostrils. He took a whiff then crossed the floor to lay a gentle kiss on her cheek. "The food smells wonderful," he complemented in a whisper, then he handed her the flowers he bought at the florist stand.

"I would hope so." Dis took the flowers from him then lifted herself up to kiss his face.

Suddenly, a tiny squeal came from the far corner where a little dwarfling with locks of golden hair and eyes of the dark blue sea sat with a wooden spoon gripped in between his fat fingers and an upturned steel pot nestled on his lap. Thorin glanced over his shoulder to the happy-go-lucky child beating away on his make-shift drum.

The dwarf king swept his feet across the floor to the golden-haired child and Fili held his chubby arms in the air, opened wide, and his tiny hands making grabbing motions. The normally stoic dwarf always so fixed in expression felt his heart skip a beat as he unceremously scooped the tiny dwarfling into his arms. Thorin smoothed back the boy's golden curls then pressed a lightened kiss to his baby soft forehead. "Can you say Thorin? Say Thorin." He tried sounding it out, emphasizing each syllable.

Dis grabbed a large blade from her drawer and began slicing away at the onions. "Oh good luck with that," she mused with a light chuckle.

"Still no mum or _adad_ huh?"

"Nope." She pushed the onions aside and grabbed two tiny bowls of spices from the ledge over her cutting counter. "Do you have any idea what it's liked to be outranked by cup, poop and bear?"

Thorin chuckled as Fili snuggled into his body. "It will happen in time. You didn't start talking until long after your first steps, and do you remember what you said?"

"How could I? I was barely the age my son is now."

"Well I do." Dis had turned slightly until he was completely drawing her gaze. "I remember because you had fallen and scraped your knee. You didn't even cry. I picked you up and kissed it better then you said my name." He saw an upturn on the corner of her lips. "It was the only thing you would say for the longest time. You were always a mouthy child."

The siblings shared one of those rare laughs and for once, neither of them was thinking ill thoughts about their childhood. Dis was just ten years old at the time Erebor was attacked and while some of her memories from before had all but faded away, that day in particular was still very fresh in her mind.

As she continued staring at Thorin and her smile began to wear off, and her mind was slowly starting to relieve that day, something brought her from her thoughts. It was very quick and subtle and if she hadn't paused in what she was doing, she would have missed it.

"Fo-Fo'win!"

They blinked. Both looked at the small child in Thorin's arms as if they thought they might be hearing something, and then the bright eyed, golden-haired dwarfling smiled up at his uncle.

Fili's grubby little hands grabbed his uncle's face. "Fo'win!" He started to giggle happily until a crack of thunder brought a startled squeal from his throat and he buried his face in Thorin's shoulder.

Thorin felt his heart melt. He lifted a hand to the back of his nephew's head and combed his fingers very slowly through Fili's golden hair.

.

..

A loud crackle of thunder woke him from his sleep. He sat up panting then glanced outside as rain pelted the glass. His tongue rolled a sigh as he buried his face in the palm of his right hand. Thorin dragged his fingers down the front of his face and let them gently glide off his chin. For a second there, he had forgotten he was sleeping on the couch at his sister's house. A glass of water would do him some good.

Thorin threw off the furs and sprung to his bare feet, then padded across the floor to the kitchen. He grabbed a thick glass from the cabinet then poured some cold water from the jug. He was just bringing the glass to his lips when a second thunder boom struck and lightning split the sky, illuminating the living room as well as the kitchen. Thorin lost grip on the glass and it shattered as it hit the floor. His right hand was shaking. _What is wrong with me_? He questioned himself as he grabbed his trembling hand to steady it.

He grabbed a dish cloth as he bent to his knees then cleaned up the broken pieces of glass. He sprinkled the pieces into a small trash then pulled himself to his feet and tossed the dish cloth onto the counter. Thorin discovered that one of the glass shards had imbedded in the underside of his palm whilst he was cleaning. He pinched it and plucked it out. Then a shrill wailing pulled him from his thoughts.

Thorin lit a candle then crept through the house until he was at the door to his nephew's bedroom. He gave the door a slight nudge open with his elbow then walked in. He peaked around a moment until he found his nephew's crib.

Thorin placed the candle down on the night table then reached into the baby's crib, gathering the little bundle into his arms. "There now, Fili. I'm right here." His voice could be harsh, sometimes even cold, but he spoke to the baby with such a soothing tone that one would mistake him for going soft and they'd be right. His left calloused hand smoothed down some of the dwarfling's frilly blonde hair.

He placed a kiss on Fili's brow as he willed the wailing to stop. Only when Thorin brought the young dwarfling to his chest did the child's wails finally cease. He stood upright for several minutes because he feared that if he moved, the lad would start crying again. A smile swept over him when Fili's fingers started entwining in his chest hair.

Thorin walked himself over to a rocking chair in the corner. Picking up a blanket, he sat down with his nephew still cradled against his body then draped the blanket over them. He started rocking the chair back and forth, back and forth, working up a very rhythmatic motion. A song came to his mind and he started humming it, at first, with each word vibrating his throat. They said it was the sound of his voice that calmed the child when he was fussy. Singing to him in such a deep, baritone melody with songs his father would sing to him, and his father before him.

But it wasn't Thorin's singing that calmed the small lad. No, not in the slightest. No one could blame him for going soft for they would all expect it. Neither Dis's voice nor Kildri's would ever hope to still a finicky child. Maybe it steamed from the night he was born.

This is how they were found the next morning; Thorin leaning back in the rocker and baby Fili curled up on his uncle's chest. It was the _thump-thump_ of his uncle's heartbeat that finally willed the babe to sleep.


	6. The Dream Slayer

**WOW! I seriously did not know I had it in me. I literally punched this chapter out in a single day so if there are any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors, I apologize. People were asking for more Fili and Thorin feels so this idea came to me last night before I went to bed. I hope you all enjoy it :D**

**Chapter Six  
**The Dream Slayer

* * *

"_I think we dream so we don't have to be apart for so long. If we're in each other's dreams, we can be together all the time." _–A.A. Milne

* * *

Thorin was the only one still left in the forge that night once everyone else left. So he placed it on himself to get things cleaned up and put away then he settled for a pipe of tobacco before eventually cuddling under a thick blanket of furs. The air was getting chilly, which meant winter was fast approaching. Thorin could only feed a fire so much with broken twigs and heavy logs; it would die out as he slept, which meant his body would be more susceptible to the cold. It wasn't the best lodgings; the mattress had a few lumps in it and the bed itself was lower to the ground than he would have liked which made him feel more open and exposed—but it was a bed none the less and he couldn't afford to complain.

Sometime in the middle of the night, likely an hour or two past the stroke of twelve, Thorin awoke to a small noise in the other room; though it was probably the lack of comfort his bed gave him that woke him up and the noise he heard was just an excuse. But he felt the need to explore the source of his small discomfort and was on his feet reaching for the dagger he kept on the small inn table next to him. Then he heard it again, only this time louder. Something was clattering to the floor followed by a tiny squeak. Oh hell, a rat. Thorin judged where the creature was then gave his dagger a toss.

A terrified squeal followed. "_Rats don't squeal like that_", Thorin said to himself. So when he turned round the corner to inspect it, his eyes widened and his heart plummeted to his stomach when a five year old dwarfling child stood there frozen and the dagger he threw imbedded in the wall behind the child. Had it been a few inches closer, it would have sliced the child's neck open.

The golden-haired dwarfling looked up at his uncle with terrified, wide blue eyes and Thorin discovered himself swearing under his breath. "By Durin's bane, Fili- " his feet swiftly carried him across the floor to the trembling lad standing by the dire fire, " –what are you _doing_ here?!" He reached up next to the child and plucked the protruding blade from the wall. Thorin looked around, expecting his sister to be somewhere close by but it looked to him like she wasn't there. "Child, did you come out here all by yourself?"

Fili nodded, albeit slowing. He was still staring at his uncle with his wide eyes and he was still breathing quite rapidly. Thorin swore again then placed his dagger on the mantle over the fire as he stood. He scooped the child into his arms and held him tight against his chest. Fili's head drooped into his uncle's shoulder until hot tears poured from his eyes.

Thorin took the child back to his less than comfortable bed and sat down with him on its edge. The child's arms had become coiled around his neck so when he asked the dwarfling again only to hear Fili's pathetic cries, Thorin unwrapped his nephew's arms from around his neck and looked down at the child. "Fili…" His voice took on a more stern tone to it until his nephew was locking eyes with his uncle.

"Mama is angry with me." His weak cries soon turned into soft sniffles.

Thorin blinked. "Why is your mum angry with you?" He liked to assume it was because Fili had gotten himself in trouble again; the boy was known for his mischievous ways. More often than anything had he gotten his hide tanned for his trouble making.

Fili sniffled his tears back. "I…I couldn't sleep. I dweamed something happened to papa when he was comin' home." His face scrunched up a bit. "Twied waking mama, tell her I had nightmare, she tell me to go back to bed." His blue eyes drifted downward.

The dwarf king sighed and lifted his nephew's chin. "Your father is perfectly fine. He will be back to you within a fortnight, my young child." Though, to be perfectly honest, he did felt a slight tightness in his chest at the dwarflings explanation. "Running away is not wise, Fili. Your mum will be terribly upset with you. We should get you home."

"NO!" Without rhyme or reason, young Fili threw his arms around Thorin's neck again and buried his face in his uncle's chest. Thorin's eyes widened for half a second until his nephew was muttering something incoherently into his chest.

He pulled his nephew's head away from him. "What did I tell you about the mumbling?"

"Sorry."

"What did you say? And speak clearly boy."

"I said I wanna stay here with you." His crying and sniffling had subsided for now. "You make bad dweams go away." Fili's fingers stared playing with the braids of his uncle's jet black hair.

Thorin opened his mouth to say something against his little nephew's decision but he quickly steeled his words when he saw the pleading look in Fili's eyes. That child had the ability to completely melt his heart and sometimes he just didn't have the will in him to be harsh with the lad. This child was surely to become the death of him.

With a heavy sigh, Thorin crawled under his blankets and pulled young Fili against him then covered them both with the thick furs. Fili curled up against his uncle's chest and started entwining his small fingers in Thorin's hair. The dwarf king pressed a kiss to his nephew's hair then circled his arms around the child. He listened to Fili's breathing even out until his eyes closed again and he was drifting back into sleep.

.

..

Dis's eyes widened to melons when she saw her brother standing in her doorway with a still sleeping child nestled in his arms. "Thorin!" She fled to him and brought a hand to his son's golden hair. Her fingers brushed back a strand or two before she was looking at her brother again.

"He's alright, sister."

Thorin moved into the house, passing by a dwarf woman with a startled look to her eyes. He did not look at her whilst his boots tramped across the wood floor to the bedroom in which his nephew slept. The crib had long been gone, replaced with an ambled sized bed for the growing young lad. He laid the sleeping child in his bed, still wrapped up tight in the thick jacket Thorin had surrendered to the by shortly before they left the forge.

When he looked back to the sister standing by the foot of her son's bed, with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her lips, he brought a finger to his lips. She started to protest but Thorin was quick to shuffle her out of the bedroom, pulling the door shut behind them.

Dis was silent, but fuming slowly, until they were standing in the living room. Her flattened hand came to strike her brother, _hard_, across his face. "I wake this morning to find my son missing from his bedroom and come to find out he was with _you_ the entire time!" She looked at the red mark on his cheek her hand had left and the deep frown his lips made. "Don't you dare give me that look, Thorin Oakenshield. He had me worried something bad happened to him."

"Fili is just fine, Dis." His hand lifted to rub his cheek. He had to admit that his sister had mean power behind her hand and in a lot of ways, Thorin could justify why she had struck him. "I found him wandering the forge early this morning and kept him with me so I apologize for worrying you. He thinks you were mad at him."

"Why did he think that?"

"I don't know. Maybe it had something to do with the fact you told him to go back to bed when he told you he had a nightmare." He watched for the subtle change in his sister's expression. "He said he had a dream that something happened to Kildri. He needed you, sister…"

Dis frowned and immediately looked at the floor, chiding her own feelings. She should not have turned her own son away like she had. "Thorin, I'm with child." She hadn't meant to tell her brother like that and it should have been her husband who knew first but the words were out before she could take them back.

Thorin's lips peeled back. He opened his mouth to say something but—

"Honey, I'm home!"

Before either Thorin or Dis could react to Kildri walking in through the front door, a five year old dwarfling had bolted past them and threw against his father, wrapping his arm tight around Kildri's left leg.

Both turned their moods into smiles as Kildri bent down to scoop his son into his arms. Fili immediately curled his arms around his father's neck and pulled his smile body harshly against Kildri's chest.

Kildri regarded his wife and brother-in-law with a quizzical brow lift. "Do I want to know?"

And both shook their heads.


	7. Stricken - Part One

**Chapter Six  
**Stricken – Part One

* * *

"_Remember me and smile, for it's better to forget than to remember and cry_." –Dr. Seuss

* * *

_The pain. Oh, Mahal, the pain. The pain was the first, and the last, thing that he recognized. It was excruciating. No small amount of comfort there. He lay there for several unbearable seconds, completely unmoving save for the few seconds he was breathing; if you could call it that. It was easy enough for him to tell where the pain was by the different areas of his body that hurt worse than others, but all of his nerves and muscles were torturing him relentlessly. _

_Thorin flexed his fingers, first on his right hand and then his left; but his left digits would move. He didn't _feel_ any of them. He tried moving his wrist, and then his elbow and finally his shoulder; there was still nothing, as if the limb itself was as foreign as -they- were here in Ered Luin. Once his breathing came back to him, Thorin sucked in a large, gulping breath of hot, humid air clouded with a deluge of rain that had just recently begun. By Aule, he was starting to hate the rain._

_He held his lifeless arm against his muscled belly and set up, very slowly as fire burned in his chest and pain of something so unimaginable clawed away at him. He tried inhaling again, only for it to turn into something between a hacking cough and a wheeze. His lifted a hand to his chest and started breathing a little slower, one moment at a time. Each and every time he felt his chest rising to meet his palm, white hot pain burned him up._

_Thorin started fingering his weightless arm and continued upward until they were begging for him not to move any further. They had found the source of his flimsy appendage; the shoulder had been dislocated from the socket, possibly when the warg tossed him like a rag doll though he couldn't be too sure – that much was a blur to him. He slowly, agonizingly, started to work the bone back into place until it snapped._

_The pain had quickly passed over him, and it was over in just a few seconds. Thorin somehow managed to get to his knees but doing so elicited a groan from his throat. Blood streaked down the left side of his face. A gash had been opened above his eye. His rapid heartbeat was still trying to settle down in his chest. He took a slow breath in, a raspy, grating breath._

_He looked about him, his eyes wandering the bleak cold rain, until they found the head of a certain golden-haired dwarf laying prone in the mud and the dirt. Thorin pushed himself to his feet. His legs wobbled; he felt incredibly week and the muscles in his legs nearly betrayed him, but he kept walking until he reached the dwarf and his knees finally gave out. He collapsed into the mud on the dwarf's left side and pushed back rain soaked blonde hair to press two fingers to dwarf's neck. A pulse was still there, albeit slow and weak._

"_Kildri?"_

.

.

_Two hours earlier…_

A very annoyed, very tired and very cold Kildri kicked at his pony to urge the animal onward while he adjusted the hood over his head; it didn't do well to keep the rain from wetting his face, nor the cold to shiver down his spine. He could have thought of worse things in the world, or better times to set off from the village in Enedwaich. They could have avoided the rain if they had left when he wanted to but the village elder's insistence in them staying for one more night had delayed them, and thus put them in the position they were in now.

He looked over to his traveling companion who appeared just as miserable as he was. It would be comical if both dwarrows were in the mood for a good laugh. He swiped a mucky sleeve across his mouth and spat in disgust when a bit of mud seeped between his lips. Oh how he _hated_ the rain, but more importantly what the remembrance of rain brought. Thorin may be able to move himself on from that day, but Kildri couldn't. In a single act, he nearly lost his wife and son. Only by some miracle and his brother-in-law's fierce determination did they live. But every time he saw rain, his heart clenched in his throat when he was suddenly reminded of that night.

At this rate, they could be back home within a few hours but in Kildri's honest opinion it wasn't soon enough. Thankfully they had been spared from walking the whole way. But by Durin's beard, none of that truly helped any. He scowled as the icy rain continued to pound against him. Kildri lifted a hand to push a branch out of the way only for the limb to snap back and strike him in the mouth. Instead of stopping, he lifted a hand to his lips when they started to sting.

Thorin's pony trotted up to the right of Kildri's, just in time for the dwarf king to see the branch smacking his brother-in-law in the face. Thorin pulled the dwarf's hand away from his face and noticed the offending limb had split Kildri's bottom lip open. It was not a wound that required stitching but it would definitely bring him some discomfort for a small time.

Kildri pushed his brother-in-law's hand away, giving him something akin to a scowl. He didn't need to be babied especially in the state he was in; not only was this rain making him miserable but grumpy and beyond irritably. All he wanted was to be able to come home to a pint of ale, a warm fire and to curl under mounds and mounds of furs. He looked forward to seeing his son again as they had not seen each other for a month or so, and the wife carrying his second child, whom, of which, he found out about shortly before leaving. That brought him some comfort, at least.

Thorin and Kildri passed together in silence for a while, at least with verbal communication but the golden-haired dwarf was thinking of his family. His thoughts were with his wife, and the child she was pregnant with. He hoped it to be a girl; he desperately wanted a daughter, someone to spoil and dote mercilessly on, someone whom could look to Fili as a protective older brother. Yes, a daughter would be perfect. He already had a son; a daughter would complete his family.

But his thoughts were pulled from him when his pony stopped suddenly and started neighing and hoofing the ground beneath it. Kildri put a hand to the creature's thick neck and whispered words in Khuzdul. But the best did not head his master's words. Thorin pulled at the reins of his own pony. Both creatures spooked at something unseen in front of them. Both riders were tossed from their steeds and thrown careless to the ground. They looked up as the ponies bolted, Thorin swearing under his breath and Kildri pulling his hood over his disheveled blonde hair.

"Great," Kildri said with a heavy sigh. "Now what?" If he wasn't completely irritated before, he definitely was now. He brushed mud and rain water from his tunic then looked over at Thorin who plucked a small twig from his braids.

Kildri climbed to his feet then walked over to his brother-in-law and offered a hand up. Once Thorin had taken it, and the golden-haired dwarf had pulled his king to his feet, both dwarrows were suddenly taken aback by a strange noise coming from the woods. A howling, of sorts. Kildri looked about quickly; he and Thorin were surrounded by a stretch of darkened land in all directions.

"Was that a wolf?" He asked, a flitter of panic in his voice. "Are there wolves out here?" He had seen wolves before, and heard their howls but in that moment he stood there, drenched from head to toe, covered in mud and freezing, he couldn't tell the difference.

Thorin listened then shook his head. "No, that is not a wolf…"

Both dwarf men turned slowly on their feet and looked up. A warg with dark brown fur and snarling teeth gaze down upon them. There was a brief moment of dread between the two dwarrows before the warg made a lunge for them.

…TO BE CONTINUED

**I struggled with how I was going to do this particular chapter and then this idea came to me so I started writing and eventually ran with it. I promise to make part two longer.**


	8. Stricken - Part Two

**Chapter Eight  
**Stricken – Part Two

"Kildri," he called in a low, raspy voice. "Kildri, wake up!"

No response.

Thorin tried not to look too worried, but a horror had settled in his chest. He placed a hand on his brother-in-law's face then laid two fingers on the jugular vein in Kildri's neck. When he felt a pulse thrumming underneath flesh and blood, Thorin let out a relieved sigh.

He sat back a little when Kildri inhaled a breath. The younger dwarf lying on the ground started hacking up a lung; not in the literally sense but his breathing was definitely an issue. The more he continued to inhale the chilly air circulating around his head, the more his lungs were screaming for relief.

Once the coughing had subsided, Kildri forced a smile to the surface of his lips upon seeing his brother-in-law kneeling over him. "You are alive." His breath came in a grating, almost chugging way and his voice betrayed no thought to his pain.

"Yes."

Out here, in the middle of nowhere, with darkness surrounding them on all sides, and no ride to speak of, getting assistance seemed like a doomed thought.

And Thorin dared not move him without risking further injury.

_There could be internal damage_, he thought. Of course, he was no medical practitioner and therefore had no solid way of diagnosing the man there on the spot. Despite the bleakness of their situation, he knew staying here would not be an option either.

He tried to lift his brother-in-law from the ground but a pained, whimpering cry brought him again to his knees. Thorin surveyed Kildri's damaged body for signs of external injury. When he peeled back folds of Kildri's tunic, his heart jumped to his throat; blood, far too much of it. A warg's mouth had closed upon him and ripped his midsection open. And in that moment, they knew.

When at last their eyes met again, Kildri's was swimming with pain, and of loss. He was innocent; far too much so than he'd admit to anyone. Kildri hissed as a surge of pain moved through his lower extremities. Whatever he was trying not to feel was failing. "Thorin- "

"No." The dwarf king's brows narrowed. "I cannot abandon you. I won't do that."

Kildri grimaced, and a new kind of pain prickled at the severity of his midsection. He was breathing hard, maybe to compensate for the blood pooling from his abdomen.

The dwarf king removed his cloak and draped it over his brother-in-law's broken body. It would not do much good but in a way it did offer him a small amount of comfort by offering up such a trivial gesture to the dying man. Thorin applied a strong amount of pressure to Kildri's midsection but his brother-in-law was losing blood faster than he could keep it in.

Kildri took in a trembling, guttural breath. "I only regret I won't be allowed to see my son grow up, to be there when my daughter is born…" He forced a smile though the next time he started coughing, blood came up from his throat and trickled out of the corner of his mouth. "Frieda. I have always liked that name."

"Are you so sure the child is a girl?" Thorin smirked. "It could be a boy."

"Yes. I would want my son to be as protective over her as you are of Dis. And I know she would be happy making dresses for our girl." The image of a little girl with his blonde hair and his wife's blue eyes made the pain seem less intense.

Thorin smoothed over Kildri's blonde hair, matted down to his forehead by the rain. "I will make sure they are well taken care of." In a moment of compassion, he reached for his brother-in-law's hand. He grasped it tightly.

"Thank you… my brother… "

Kildri smiled again then gasped a shuddering breath as his grip on Thorin's hand loosened.

.

.

Dwalin didn't hate children, he was just never very good with them; probably preferring if he didn't have to deal with them at all, though his king's nephew was an entirely different story. Young Fili somehow managed to get through to the tattooed warrior but it was not likely something that Dwalin would ever admit to under normal circumstances.

Why the young dwarfling had chosen -his- shoulder to fall asleep on was a complete mystery; he still couldn't explain why the lad had taken such a liking to him. Late into the evening, when dinner was over and the only flicker of light was either coming from the kitchen, the living room or the boy's bedroom, Dwalin finally stood up from the couch. His one arm cradled Fili against him. The lad's body lay at somewhat of an awkward angle; slumped into Dwalin's chest, head cocked at a side angle against the man's shoulder, and one arm laying limply at his side while the other rested against Dwalin's body and the fingers of his hand twinged together with the fabric of the warrior's tunic.

Dis asked him if he would rather her take Fili to bed but Dwalin shook his head, reasoning that shifting him from one pair of arms to the other might wake the lad. So he bee lined through the living room to the boy's bedroom with Balin and Dis both following him. Dwalin maneuvered one of his hands to pull back the bed covers and the other to lay Fili on his back. He pulled up the covers to the lad's neck then took a step back as Dis came around the other side of the bed and kissed her son's forehead.

The dwarf woman put some type of glass container over the flaming candle to lessen the brightness of the flame then ushered the two dwarrows from her son's bedroom, also pulling the door shut behind her.

While Balin and Dwalin fell into chairs at the table, Dis fled to her sink and started washing the dishes left over from their meal. The smell of fresh tobacco soon invaded her senses; she didn't have to look over her shoulder to know the brothers had pulled out their pipes. She never did care for the stuff. She tried it once. It had initially provided Thorin with a good laugh for those few seconds his sister's face twisted up in disgust, until she was on her knees in front of a bucket.

Before shuffling the last plate into an area to dry along with the others, Dis had laid a protective hand over her slightly protruding belly. "I think you should find yourself a nice dwarf lass and settle down with a family of your own, Dwalin." She dried her hands then turned towards her table, facing a now smirking dwarf warrior.

"I don't see that happening for me any time soon," the dwarf added after pulling the pipe from his mouth and giving his princess a slight eyebrow raise. "I'm content as is."

"I believe you would make a good father to a lad or lass."

Balin chuckled. "I would actual pity that child." While his brother had to agree with him, this comment earned a singled arch brow from the pregnant dwarf standing in front of her sink.

"You should not doubt him, Balin."

"Oh I don't doubt his heart, only his temper." He chuckled again. "You see, in order to have children, he would have to find a woman who could stand him first."

Dis rolled her eyes. "Why do you torment him so?"

"Because he's my brother and that's kind of in the job description of an elder brother? If I remember correctly, Thorin wrote that book."

And then Dwalin added; "Wasn't there a specific chapter on his sister?"

"You know, I believe there was," Balin agreed. "Something about putting spiders in her bed and worms in her toy chest an- "

"You two need to stop spending so much time with him," Dis rounded, interrupting Balin on the spot.

Both brothers laughed until they heard a panic neighing coming from outside the house. Their laughter subsided into something more serious. Balin and Dwalin stood away from the table and started moving towards the front door; Dis was right behind them.

When Dwalin pulled the door open, they saw two ponies drenched in rain, both riderless. They recognized these ponies as belonging to Thorin and Kildri, who were expected back at any time soon; Kildri would not allow himself to miss his wife's second pregnancy as he did with a majority of her first. Dwalin dropped his pipe and jumped into the freezing rain to grab the creatures' reins and settle them down before their incessant noise woke anyone up.

Something unnatural settled in Dis's throat. "Those are Thorin and Kildri's ponies," she rasped as if she needed to explain it to someone who wouldn't know. "But, where are they? Where are my brother and my husband?" Her chest expanded rapidly, and her heart fought to keep up.

Dwalin looked the ponies over. "Something's happened…" He immediately leaped onto the back of Thorin's black stallion and pulled at the reins. "Balin, stay here with Dis and Fili. I am going to find them."

Dis started to walk forward towards the other pony. "I'm coming with you."

"No." He tugged the reins in another direction, forcing the creature beneath his legs to turn away from the house.

He was gone before Balin and Dis could blink an eyelid.

.

.

"Thorin? Kildri?"

The rain had dissipated by the time Dwalin got himself into the woods, though the dampness and icy chill still lingered there in the air. And he was trying not to show his worry. He swallowed any of those feelings he might have been having, thinking only instead of his brother and a worried dwarf lass waiting at home.

Dwalin trotted the pony around a group of trees and pushed back offending limbs in his way. He knew he was getting close because he could feel the pony's muscles tightening under his heavy weight. The dwarf's eyes were ahead of him. When he rounded another tree, he saw the bodies of two dead wargs just laying there.

But he didn't see any sign of Thorin or Kildri, until a crack of lightning illuminated blood on the ground. His eyes followed it to a hump of flesh.

Dwalin jumped down from the back of the pony and rushed for them. Once he reached their sides, he dropped to his knees and reached for the jugular on Thorin's neck. Something akin to a manic laugh left his throat when he felt the familiar_ thump-thump_ against his fingers. He looked to Kildri, still with eyes wide open, staring blankly into the sky. Dwalin checked him as well but felt nothing. He closed Kildri's dead eyes then started rolling his king into his arms.

Thorin groaned as his friend lifted him up, and his eyes briefly opened. "K-Kildri…" his voice was faltering, and a harsh shiver had taken hold of his body. "Is he… Is he okay?" He could only keep his eyes open for a moment before his head slumped against Dwalin's thick chest.

Dwalin shifted Thorin's dead weight onto the pony then climbed up behind him. His left arm curled around the dwarf king's midsection and the hand of his right arm grasped the reins. Thorin's breathing had slowed considerably.

Giving the animal a swift kick to his hind quarters and a twist in the reins, the pony turned back from where it came and bolted.

.

.

"BALIN!"

The startled white-haired dwarf raced outside with Dis running behind him. Both reached a screeching halt when they saw Dwalin leaping down from the pony with Thorin cradled in his arms.

The elder brother regarded his younger sibling with widened eyes. "What happened?!"

"They were attacked by wargs!" Dwalin wasted no time in getting inside.

Dis stepped forward. "Where is my husband?"

"Kildri is dead."

For a moment, Dis stopped living. She just stood there completely dead. She felt a sickness rising in her stomach and forced a hand to support her as she fell against the frame of her door. But Balin was right there beside her.

Dwalin would have liked to offer his condolences at the moment but his main attention was on the dwarf in his arms. And it only took the dwarf lass a brief minute to reflect on her husband and feel anguish before she forced herself to remember her own brother. Swallowing her fear and a sob rising to her throat, she ushered the dwarrows into her bedroom.

Dwalin laid an unconscious Thorin down. He placed two fingers against Thorin's neck again and watched the slow rise of the dwarf's chest. "His pulse is weak. I fear hypothermia has already settled in. Balin! Get a fire started. Dis, we need to strip him of these wet clothes and get him in something warm."

"Mummy?" All three dwarrows turned at the voice and saw a tired Fili standing in the doorway rubbing his eyes. "I had a bad dream." He noticed his beloved uncle lying on his mother's bed, and the others hovering over his body. "…is Uncle Thorin okay, mummy?"

Dis moved away from the bed as Dwalin and Balin worked with Thorin. She gathered the wee lad into her arms and walked out of the room. She took her son down the small hallway to his own bedroom and sat on the edge of his bed.

Fili lifted his head once he was seated in his mother's lap. "What's wrong with Uncle Thorin?"

"Your uncle has a boo-boo," she explained to the child, because she wasn't sure if her son would be able to understand anything. Her voice showed no thought to how grave the situation was because the last thing she wanted to do was scare the lad. "He'll be okay, Fili." She started stroking her fingers through his hair.

Her son nestled himself into her body, pulling a yawn from his throat. "Mummy, when is daddy coming home?"

**I haven't decided yet if I'm going to make Stricken into a three-parter or not. I may either do that or continue on to when Thorin is better. I guess we'll find out.**


	9. Stricken - Part Three

Chapter Nine  
**Stricken – Part Three**

The fire sparked widely.

The reddish orange hue splashed Thorin's face, warming the features of his nose, his chin and the dark hair that framed his face. The braids had all been untangled and his hair had been washed. His wet clothes removed and thrown over a laundry rack to dry by the fire. His wounds had been treated and wrapped in bandages. And the covers had been pulled up to his shoulder to keep him as warm as possible.

Dis leaned left against the frame of her bedroom door, arms crossed over her chest. She watched her brother's chest rise as he drew in breath and fall as he exhaled. The stillness to her brother's face would have frightened her but there was something surreal and calm about it. She smiled. But behind that smile was nothing but heartbreak. Her eyes were moistened by unshed tears; broken pieces of her heart only held together by the knowledge her brother was still breathing.

This wonderful, beautiful man who sheltered her, protected her, put clothes on her back, food on the table and delivered her son. Thorin was everything to her. Maybe the fact he was with Kildri as her husband passed into the Halls of Waiting did bring her _some_ comfort.

Wiping tears from her eyes, Dis walked away from her door frame and moved slowly across the floor boards to the right side of her bed. "How's he doing?" Reaching forth, the princess grasped her brother's hand and although she didn't feel him responding, she knew he could feel her there.

"His body is responding well," Balin answered while still holding two fingers to Thorin's pulse. It bothered him just as much to see his best friend like this, and to see Dis so distraught under the circumstances. Then he lifted his eyes to his princess's face. "And you? I will be here for you, myself and my brother, whenever you need us. I'll take Fili for a few days, whatever you need me to do."

"Thank you, Balin. I appreciate you saying that and for saving my brother's life but this is something I need to handle."

"Very well."

The white-haired dwarf placed Thorin's wrist down then stood on his feet. He watched his friend breathe for half a second before his eyes skipped over the princess, and then their eyes were both drawn to the doorway and the tattooed dwarf standing there.

Dwalin wandered in a few inches. "Well, Fili's finally asleep." He stepped over to the bedside where Dis sat and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I can stay if you want me to…"

Dis shook her hand. "No. You and Balin have done enough for us tonight. Thank you."

Just as Dwalin dropped his hand from her shoulder, Thorin started to stir from his sleep nearly catching the three of them by surprise. His vision was foggy at first and his head was pounding something fierce. But when this cloud finally started to dissipate, it was just three very clear faces hovering close to him.

Balin helped Thorin sit up then motioned for Dwalin to follow him. The muscled tattooed dwarf gently squeezed Dis's shoulder then followed his brother out. Once the front door shut, the Durin siblings were left on their own. Remembering now everything that had happened, Thorin turned to his sister and took her hand. He pressed his lips to her knuckles then brushed off a tear as it trickled down the side of her face. To see her in pain and to know why she was in pain just about broke his heart. Dis leaned her forehead against his; Thorin's temperature was back up. Dis was glad for small favors. When she started crying harder, her brother did everything he could to offer to comfort her. He swallowed his own sorrow and held his hand against her cheek, brushing his thumb across her skin over and over again.

It was the first time since she gave birth to Fili over five years ago, when her son would have been born dead if not for her brother, that she felt a deep and powerful sorrow in her heart. Dis cried and cried until she didn't think she would ever stop, and then she cried some more. And poor Thorin did all he could not to cry along with her. Kildri wasn't just his brother-in-law; the dwarf was his best friend. He was good to Dis and he was good to Fili, and that was all Thorin could have hoped for.

The little boy they thought was sound asleep was anything but. In fact, he now stood in the doorway of his mama's bedroom with his bear clutched to his side and a thumb hanging out of his mouth. He had either heard Dwalin and Balin leaving or he heard his mama's crying and decided to investigate. Either way, it was hard to know just how long he had been standing there.

Fili plucked his thumb out of his mouth and wet his lips. "Mama?"

Dis picked her head up from her brother's forehead and looked past her right shoulder. She gazed down at her golden-haired child then brushed tears from her eyes. "Mama's fine, baby. Go back to sleep." She was anything but fine, but she didn't need her son worrying about that.

"Couldn't sweep." He started walking in. "I had a bad dweam. Uncle Thorin!" Seeing his uncle sitting up in his mama's bed, Fili's tiny body threw itself across the room and crawled up on the bed to toss himself around Thorin's chest, nearly crushing his bear between them. "You okay! I had a bad dweam you weren't okay. But you are! You are!"

Despite wanting to comfort his nephew, the pressure Fili put on his ribs was hurting him. Thorin hissed a little, but wrapped an arm around the child none the less. "I am. But baby, Uncle Thorin can't breathe…"

Gasping, Fili pulled back in a fright. "I sorry!" When Thorin took a breath, Fili asked, "Uncle, where is my da? When is he coming home?"

Thorin and Dis shared a look, and Dis was wiping tears from her eyes again. "He isn't."

"What do you mean he isn't? Where did he go?"

Dis carded her fingers through her son's hair. "He went to be with Uncle Frerin and Grandda Thrain, baby boy." When her son looked at her with a confused look to his eyes, she gathered him to her and wrapped her arms around him. "Baby, there… there was an accident tonight. Your da, he was hurt real bad."

"But- " Fili looked away from his mama to his uncle, " –he's gonna be okay, right?" Then he looked back to his mama. "Like Uncle Thorin is?" He saw that look in his mama's eyes and it made him frown deep. "Mama, why are you crying?" Now_ his_ eyes were starting to mist up. "Where is my _da_?!"

"Fili, your da is in Mandos. He's not coming back," Thorin said, tears choking his throat but he was able to keep them down.

Fili's face scrunched up and tears fell down his face in droplets, at first. He threw himself into his uncle's body and despite the pain in his chest and shoulder, Thorin was able to wrap his arms around his tiny nephew's body. He pulled the child into his lap, sat up further and started rocking back and forth while pushing his fingers through Fili's golden-blonde hair.

Dis put her hand to her son's head and leaned herself forward to kiss his hair. She looked at her brother as Thorin continued coddling Fili and carding his fingers through his nephew's hair.

"Your da loves you, Fili."

**SHIT! I'm sorry this took so long to put out there. I was having a SEVERE writer's block but I'll try to get back with this story. The next chapter will be a bit happier, hopefully.**


	10. Where the Heart is

Chapter Ten  
**Where the Heart is**

The sun was not quite up yet, which meant all little dwarrows – lads and lassies – were still tucked away in the warmth of their beds; not Fili.

That young lad was up even before the sun. But he had not gotten out of bed. He perched himself there on the edge and waited impatiently for those first rays of daylight to break through his bedroom window. He was being restless. He was always such a sweet boy, so innocent and even downright naïve. But sometimes it felt like to everyone else around him that his childhood was slipping away in favor of growing up too fast.

It was just Fili and his mum in the beginning, until depression over losing Kildri had nearly cost her the babe she carried. That's when Thorin had moved in. Little Fili couldn't have been happier; he got to see his uncle more often and his mother started smiling more. He hated seeing her upset. He missed his da greatly but having his beloved uncle with them on a more permanent basis helped to ease the pain.

The house was small and as such, there was no bed for Thorin to sleep in. He was happy to take the couch in the living room. But after a fashion of waking up with back pain or being unable to get a decent night sleep without tossing over to find a slightly more comfortable spot, his sister had offered up her bed; it was certainly big enough for the two of them, and she had shared a bed with him on more than one occasion. As a little girl, Dis would crawl out of her own bed and slip down the hall to her brother's. And in the morning when they were roused, they would be found together in Thorin's bed, his arms wrapped protectively around her shoulders and her head resting on his chest.

For some time, he had taken her up on this and his sister wasn't comfortable nor did she ever fall asleep until her arms were around her and her head was on his chest. And while his mum was content to be lulled to sleep by Thorin's deep breathing, there was no way Fili was going to get any sleep without a bedtime story. He just wouldn't have it. And if there was a threat of no story, he'd whine and pout and put on that adorable face that just melted right through Thorin's hard exterior. And when Fili's nightmares got the best of him, it was his Uncle Thorin he ran to, and the battle-seasoned dwarf would stay with his young nephew until sleep finally claimed him; sometimes, he would hold the child tight to him and the pair would fall asleep together.

Fili had yet to change out of his bed clothes – not for the sake of not trying (he'd gotten much better at dressing himself as opposed to when he was younger and couldn't tell the front of his tunic from the back of it), but he quite enjoyed getting his mum or Uncle Thorin to dress him; usually it was Uncle Thorin these days, as his mum spent most of her time in bed and with a growing belly weighing her down, she definitely wasn't as spry to keep up with such a rambunctious little five year old.

When the day's first sunlight sparked through the window and the roaster down at the old barn started crowing loudly, a very anxious young dwarfling nearly squealed himself silly. There was a grumbling coming from behind him. When Fili looked over his shoulder, his uncle had barely stirred but the small ray of light the dwarfling allowed to sneak past him had splashed on Thorin's face, and the raven-haired dwarf turned away from it.

Keeping himself as quiet as possible for one so small and normally so loud, Fili slipped down from his bed and trotted his bare feet across the bedroom floor. He reached for the door handle, having to stretch a bit unnatural in order to reach it, then tugged the door open and waddled down the hall to his mother's bedroom. He pushed the door open just a tad and poked his head in, just a tad. Dis was sound asleep under the warmth of her covers, her breathing even and mellowed. Fili dared not disturb her.

So after shutting her door, the golden-haired dwarf found his way into the kitchen. The stainless steel cookware was always kept out of his reach, as were the sharp carving knives and other such utensils he wasn't allowed to touch. So what did he do? Well, let it never be said that Fili wasn't a clever little dwarf child. He found himself one of his mum's kitchen chairs and pulled it across the wood floor to the counter. Once it had been placed against the counter's edge, Fili tugged himself up and started reaching out for the cookware. But even then, with the added height, the cookware still lay just slightly beyond his reach.

Fili thought to climb more to give himself more of a height to reach them. But just as his fingers brushed over the cookware he tried so hard to get to, the chair under his small body gave out from under him. Fili gave an unnatural surprised shriek. And he would have fallen on his belly had it not been for a pair of thick, strong arms grabbing him up.

Fili looked to the arms around him, then to the person holding him. "Am I in trouble, Uncle?" His eyes looked like they were about to break. "I just wanted to make b'eakfast for mum. Please don't be mad at me…"

"Fili," Thorin said, his voice getting that tone to it that always made his nephew cringe. But when he saw the dwarfling draw back, he sighed. "No, my sweet child, you're not in trouble. I think it's wonderful you wish to make your mum breakfast. Let me help you?"

His eyes lingered on the dwarfling for another second, or two, before he reached out for the cookware his nephew was trying desperately to get then returned the chair to the table.

Thorin held his nephew against his left hip while he gathered ingredients together and once he had the cookware, the eggs, bacon and sausage links, only then did he put Fili on his feet. The pair of them prepared a small feast fit for a queen. This usually became something of a norm with them; uncle and nephew would wake at the start of the day and make breakfast. Dis looked forward to being pampered these days and took pride in her boys doting on her. Thorin always did, as befitting his sister.

Well the smell of cooked sausage links awoke a grumbling belly, Fili reached out for one and stole it from the plate right out from under his uncle's nose. The thing is, Thorin did see and just didn't say anything but he did give a small hint of a side way smile.

Once they had finished cooking, Fili set a plate down on a wooden tray and Thorin shuffled a fair amount of bacon, sausage links and two fried eggs onto the plate. The young dwarfling rushed out the front door when his uncle wasn't watching and grabbed a handful of wild flowers growing by the window. When he came back inside and showed them to Thorin, claiming his mum would love them, the raven-haired king grabbed a small vase and set it on the tray. Fili climbed onto one of the kitchen chairs and put the wild flowers into the vase.

Thorin took the wooden tray in his hands and followed his nephew down the hall to Dis's bedroom. The young lad pushed the door open and immediately threw himself onto his mum's bed. He jumped joyfully, but mindful of her condition, until she finally stirred; either by the weight the jumping on the bed made, or the smell of breakfast wafting around her nostrils.

"Mum! Get up, get up!" an exuberant young Fili cried, "Uncle Thorin and I made breakfast for you! Get up!"

Thorin walked in. "Be careful, lad."

"Sorry, Uncle."

Dis found a smile for both her boys. "He's alright, Thorin." Drawing herself to a sitting position, one hand resting on her swollen belly, she looked at her two boys then pressed a kiss to Fili's brow as Thorin walked over and set the tray in front of her. "Wow, this looks great."

"It was all Fili's idea. I just helped him." Thorin admitted, then sat down to his sister's left side and kissed her hair.

She looked at her son, who beamed with a smile. "That was very thoughtful of you." She grabbed a sausage link and took a bite. "Mm. Tasty."

"I already had one!" Fili cried shortly before crawling up next to her side.

"Did you sleep well, sister?"

"Aye, I did. Better than I have in a while. This wee babe in me actually managed to be still for a single night."

Thorin clasped his hand over his sister's belly, and Dis rest her hand on his. After a moment, he lifted his eyes to her face and smirked. She met his eyes, and the expression on his face. Thorin looked back down to her belly and slowly thumbed over the very spot where he felt it.

Fili looked at his mum and his uncle with a raised brow and a curious expression to his face, one that had his mum chuckling. She gathered the child to her, took his small hand and laid it on the spot where Thorin had once put his. Both brother and sister chuckled quietly to themselves when Fili lifted his head and his eyes danced with uncertainty.

"That's your baby sister saying hello," Dis said.

Young Fili looked to his mum's swollen belly again, and felt another kick, and then another. "Mum, she wants to come out. Can she come out and play with me? Please?" He lifted his head, looking to his mum and uncle for an answer.

She smirked. "Of course she will play with you, but not yet, dear one. We must wait for her to grow more and sometime soon, she will be here and you will be a big brother."

"I will be the bestest big brother ever!"

Thorin and Dis chuckled. "Yes you will, Fili."

"Mum?"

"Yes my darling?"

"Will she know of da?" And the question had both his mum and uncle frowning. "I sure wish she could know him."

"She will," Thorin said.

Fili lowered his brow and looked sad. "I miss him…"

"I know you do baby." Dis started carding her fingers through her son's hair. "I miss him too. Your da is still with us. He's with this new child, and with you. He watches you as you sleep and chases your night terrors away."

He looked up at his mum and his uncle shortly before Thorin smoothed over a small lock of his golden-blonde hair. Then Fili lowered himself to lie beside his mum, and placed his head upon her belly so that his sister could know he was there for someone to talk to, and he began to speak to her.

Thorin looked up at his sister with a smile, for he was once in Fili's position. When his mum was pregnant with Dis, sometimes he would crawl into her bed and lay his head on her belly and just listen to his sister. Sometimes he would talk to her, and tell her of his love for her; a child that wasn't even born yet and already adored.

Fili picked his head up. "No one will hurt her. I protect her with my life, as da did for Uncle Thorin."

Dis smoothed out the small curls in her son's hair, and Thorin's heart felt heavy; this young child did not fully understand the weight of his words but both knew that one day, he would.


	11. False Alarm

_To be honest, I'm not too satisfied with how this one ended but it's after midnight and I have an early shift for work. Screw it. The next chapter will be better. Promise. Now, don't forget to PLEASE review if you liked it. I'll give everyone a Fili shaped cookie ^_^_

Chapter Eleven  
**False Alarm**

The incident occurred on a cold evening in December, when the winter chill passed quickly through the mountains and travel between realms had lessened.

She was in the kitchen cleaning up from dinner while Thorin was bathing Fili, a feat not easily accomplished but easy enough with her brother's twisted imagination. The son of hers hated the water, and he hated bathing even more so, and it seemed a chore just to get the boy past the bathroom doorway. Dis had almost given up and resorted to tricking the lad on more than one occasion. Had she known what her brother suspected on why her son hated the water, she might have been more sympathic.

It had been getting harder for her to move about lately; another month or so by Oin's reckoning. The sooner she could hold that baby girl, the better for the both of them. There was a terrible amount of endless back pain, her chest often hurt because of the milk swelling her breasts and the position the baby had gotten herself into had Dis practically wincing every time the child kicked.

As she pushed aside many of the plates she had already washed and now just needed to dry, Dis was very unexpectedly overcome with a blinding pain from out of nowhere. She brought a hand to her belly, and then another hit her. She shut her eyes tight.

And there was a crash.

She tried to pull herself along the counter to keep her support. But her legs were feeling weak. Even still, the princess had somehow managed to keep herself somewhat upright, albeit her body bent at an odd angle.

The loud crash from the kitchen pulled him to his feet, and had him running from the bathroom just as he was in the middle of playing a game Fili liked to call Battleship; the lad was winning anyway – okay, so, Thorin was _letting_ him win, but still. By the time the raven-haired king reached his sister, she was nearly on her knees had it not been for her arm on the counter, and her left hand gripping as tightly as it could to the edge.

Thorin rushed to her side and took her arms. "Is it the baby, sister? Should I fetch Oin?" There was concern in his voice but his face kept its resolve as he assisted his sister from the kitchen and sat her down on the couch.

"It can't be," she cried, in more pain than she was letting on, "…too soon." Another twinge of pain in her lower abdomen had a whimpering cry yanked from her throat, to which Thorin immediately started a gentle rub between her shoulder blades.

"Mummy!" Thorin's gaze was pulled towards a wee naked babe running towards them, his body still dripping wet from his bath, and Dis was momentarily distracted from her pain. Fili threw his arms around his mum's right leg, and then looked up. "I hearded a loud noise, mummy, and then I run out here and I saw you and you hurt and- "

After trying to absorb what her son was saying, Dis interrupted him, "Mummy's fine, darling." The look in her face next said otherwise.

Squealing, Fili broke away from his mum's leg and bolted for the door. Before Thorin could stop his nephew – Dis couldn't, because the pain of potential labor was crippling and blinding her vision to a blur – the naked baby was running outside, and the cold December breeze brought Dis closer into her brother's chest.

Thorin thought to leave her for just a moment so as to go after his young nephew; Fili was still dripping wet from the bath, and the winter cold would surely kill him. Dis was vaguely aware of this and tried to get up but she couldn't move. Her brother grabbed a heavy blanket from the back of the couch and wrapped it around her, then kissed her hair and calmly let her lean against the back while he started to stand on his feet.

But he didn't have to go after his nephew.

Just when Thorin took less than a few steps towards the door, the grey-haired Oin came waltzing through the open doorway; his bag in one hand, a shivering Fili in the other. "I found this wee naked babe and thought he might belong to you." Oin shut the door, bringing some warmth back into the house.

The healer walked over to Thorin and handed off the golden haired child, and the king under the mountain immediately wrapped his strong arms around his nephew's tiny body. He pulled the child as close into his body as possible, then started rubbing his calloused hand along Fili's back to return some warmth back into the child.

Oin knelt down in front of Dis and put a hand to her belly. There was a brief pause, before he recoiled his hand and reached into his satchel.

.

.

.

Less than an hour later, Oin had gone home and Thorin was on his knees cleaning up the broken pieces of glass. Dis was resting in her bedroom and Fili was bundled up so tight by the fire that it was impossible to tell where the dwarfling started and the furs ended, but Thorin made doubly sure the lad was getting the warmth back into his body that he needed.

He dumped the broken glass into a trash bin and finished the rest of the clean up, occasionally sneaking a glance to the living room to make sure his little nephew was okay. To be honest, he was a little beside himself. The fact this five year old child had enough sense to know something was wrong, and know he needed to get help, was just amazing.

Sometime after washing and drying the last of the plates, Thorin swept into the living room and bent down to his nephew's level. "Are you getting warm enough, Fili?"

Fili looked back at Thorin. "Yes uncle." Then he broke away from his spot and cuddled up close to Thorin, who quickly swept the lad into his arms. "Is mummy okay?"

"Yes, Fili. Your sister was just making mummy's tummy feel bad." He said in a way that would make more sense to the lad because he knew his nephew wouldn't understand false labor if he said it just like that.

"But why would she do that?"

Thorin held his tongue for a moment. His mother's pregnancy with his sister was a grueling one, and she had to be put on bed rest for the last few weeks of it because of false labor pains.

But how to explain something like that to a five year old?

"Sometimes babies just do that, Fili. She was just making sure your mum was just paying attention to her."

Fili blurted, "Stupid sister," causing Thorin's brows to rise. "She hurting my mum."

"Fili," he scolded, "your sister isn't stupid. That wasn't a nice thing to say. She wasn't intentionally hurting your mum and I'm sure she didn't mean to."

The young dwarfling burrowed his head deeper into his uncle's chest, mumbling "m'sorry" whilst trying to keep himself warm as possible.

After rubbing his hand along Fili's back, Thorin rose to his feet then made a bee line to his sister's bedroom to check on her. Dis was curled up facing away from her dresser with her furs pulled up to her right shoulder. By the even sounds of her breathing, Thorin could tell she was sound asleep. That draught Oin gave her must have worked.

He softly walked in as not to wake her then pressed a light kiss to her forehead. Fili leaned far enough away from his uncle to where he could do the same. But then she started to stir, and the lad shirked back with a light squeal.

Thorin sat on the side of the bed, cradling his nephew with one arm while letting a hand fall to his sister's shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

"M'better," she muttered, but then she opened her eyes fully and saw her son looked down at her with these sudden tears in his eyes. "Mummy's okay, baby. Don't cry." Fili pushed himself out of his uncle's embrace and laid himself down next to his mum. Dis curled one arm around her son and began carding her fingers through his golden hair. "You were a brave little boy tonight."

"I help you?"

"Yes, my jewel, you did."

"Uncle Thorin say baby sister make your tummy feel bad. Does your tummy feel better now?"

"Yes, baby." Dis looked up at her brother as her son yawned and nestled his head into her chest. "He can stay here tonight. I don't mind."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

He nodded. "I'll stay until you fall asleep then."

And his sister could hardly argue.

Thorin adjusted the furs a bit; making sure his sister was comfortable enough. He glanced at his little nephew who was already snoring softly into his mum's chest. He smoothed a few fingers through Fili's hair then rubbed Dis's shoulder a little more.

Just as her breathing started evening out, Thorin pressed a kiss to her hair then excused himself from her bed. "Good night, princess," he whispered, and then was gone.


	12. The Winter Soldier - Part One

This is it people; Kili's birth told in three segments. Oh, by the way, if you haven't noticed by now, I'm HORRIBLE with good a summary which is why the one for this story kept changing. Apologies.

WARNING(S): Angst, mentions of canon-related death, hurt!Thorin

Chapter Twelve  
**The Winter Soldier – Part One**

"_Without darkness, nothing comes to birth. As without light, nothing flowers." –May Sarton_

Winter months in Ered Luin were simply horrid. Especially in January. And on this day, on the forth of the coldest month in the mountains, the snow was coming down hard; try as he might, Thorin could not feed the aching fire fast enough.

It was a modest living in the Blue Mountains; comfortable enough for a dwarrowdam and her family, and although she was content with it, Thorin wished he could do more to provide for his sister. She deserved so much more than this. They both did. Much of their world was stripped from them when Smaug attacked Erebor; Dis hardly remembered it, she was so little at the time, but Thorin remembered everything – and those death cries haunted him. He'd like to say he had swallowed his sorrow and moved past it, but then he'd be only kidding himself.

If remembering Erebor wasn't bad enough, than still having thoughts dwelling on the Battle of Azanulbizar is what did him in. It was there in the midst of battle that he lost so much – his grandfather, his father, his brother; oh, Frerin. And to be with his baby brother in his last moments was both a blessing and a curse.

Several years has he gone trying not to let it affect him too much but then there were those nights when the nightmares would become a little too much for him. Where he'd wake up in a cold sweat and his heart would throw itself so merciless at his ribcage. In the early days, before Kildri, before Fili and when Thorin's resolve was at its worse, he'd find himself subconsciously crawling into his sister's bed at the break of dawn, and instead of a brother comforting and protecting his baby sister like he should, it was her protecting _him_. She was always being strong for him. Dis was his light when all other hope had faded, and then she gave him Fili and his heart was renewed once again.

So he would be damned if anything were to happen to her now. There was no way to tell for sure what it would but he'd very much relished the thought of having a girl to spoil; Aule knows he would. He would spoil that child rotten, for children were such a rare jewel amongst the dwarrows – female children even more so. And when the girl child stirred inside his sister's belly to the point it was causing the princess discomfort, Thorin would crawl up next to her, place his hand over where the child lay and say soft words to her; it would calm her soon enough, and if it didn't than he'd resort to singing for her. No one knew he would do this, save for his sister.

His fingers were numb. He'd like to say the strong bite in the wind had done them in but then again, he'd been having problems keeping himself warm this winter. Thorin hated the cold. He hated _being_ cold. He could hardly grab the door knob; his fingers slipped more than once or twice. But once he was inside, he side stepped into the living room and tossed a few more logs onto the fire.

Thorin grabbed the fire poker and prodded the logs a bit until they lit aflame, and sparks danced in front of his eyes. He set on rubbing his fingers together in front of the blaze; the tips tinkled something fierce, and had set on a slight bluish tint. Upon hearing a, "M'cold, Uncle," from behind him, Thorin opened his coat and invited the shivering child into his arms. Fili rested his head against his uncle's chest while Thorin's left hand lifted to the lad's back and his strong palm started massaging a small area between his nephew's shoulder blades. He continued these ministrations even after the lad had finally stopped shivering.

The sound of the human heartbeat might just be nature's most soothing sound. Its gentle rhythm is the first thing a babe hears in the womb, and it's why parents often cuddle their child against their chests. Embraced so tightly against Thorin, Fili can hear it; it _thumps-thumps_, it _pitter-patters _and it's the most comfortable sound he knows. He knows it protects him from his night terrors and all of his doubts. He knows it draws him home.

And just for a moment, Fili lifts his head away from it. "Uncle cold too?" His eyes are big and full when he asks, because he can feel his uncle shivering as well.

"Just a little," his uncle says with a smile, because he knows it's a lie; he is a lot colder these days, but having his nephew cuddled against him does draw in some body heat. "Are you getting warm enough, Fili?"

"Yes, uncle." He put his head against Thorin's chest, and there it was again. Fili started to curl his fingers in his uncle's braided hair and sigh contently. After a beat in which Thorin prodded at the fire place, and Fili was just getting comfortable again; "I'm scared."

"Whatever for, Fili?"

"What if I'm not the bestest big brother?" And Thorin looked at him with a raise brow. "I mean, what if I let sissy down and I don't preee—tect her like a bestest big brother should?"

There was a rumble in Thorin's chest. "Oh Fili." He lowered his gaze to the child in his arms, and lifted his nephew's chin. "I know it may not seem easy, and it definitely isn't. There will be times she'll annoy you, where you'll wish you were an only child, and you'll not want her around but remember this, my sweet boy; she is your sister none the less and in the end, you will remember how much you love her."

"Did you ever worry 'bout being a big brother?"

Thorin sighed. "Yes." He looked past his nephew's curious gaze to the heat of the flames licking his face, and he thought of a time before Frerin, before Dis, when it was just him and how little he had been. "Of course I had my doubts but then my brother was born and when I held him in my arms for the first time, I knew I wanted to give my heart and soul into protecting him. He was the same way when your mother was born. Those two were inseparable, and I loved them both. We went on many adventures together, the three of us."

Then something else struck at Fili. "…is Uncle Frerin preee-tecting daddy?"

"Yes." He hadn't considered that possibility until his nephew had asked, though he liked to assume that his brother was taking care of Kildri.

Fili nodding, understanding, despite his age. "Uncle Frerin would have loved me wouldn't he?"

"Yes, he would have adored you. I dare say he would have spoiled you rotten."

Then something in his face scrunched up. "I not rotten!" His voice got a little loud, and he looked offended by the notion his uncle was implying.

"I know you're not, dear one." Thorin left a kiss on the crown of Fili's head, then started rubbing the lad's back once more, as his ministrations had ceased for a while there.

There was a moment when the only sound echoing the small living room was the crackling fire and Thorin's evened out breathing. And that was all they needed. The silence was almost too welcoming to him; it gave him a chance to reflect. And what he reflected on the most, in that moment, was the brother he lost. He was not wrong in telling his nephew that Frerin would have loved him, but it made think back on a day, much like this one, when he was called into his mother's bed chambers, and his tiny five year old body had crawled up onto her bed so that his smoky-blue eyes could catch a glimpse of the bundle in his mum's arms.

Thorin had peered into the flushed face of the babe, momentarily looking a bit lost. Then his mum drew her first-born closer and the bundle was suddenly in Thorin's arms. He had almost gasped when the babe opened his eyes and looked up at him. He'd never forget the look in those soft, doey eyes and how his heart swelled in that moment.

He'd never forget his promise to his mum: "_I protect him, mummy. I pwomice_."

That never did come to pass, however; to this day, he'd think about that and how he let his mum down by breaking that promise. It was not something he would allow himself to live down. Not now, not ever.

The lass standing at the doorway, who had been idly watching her brother and son for the better part of an hour, had finally chuckled, drawing their attention away from the fire. "I will never not get used to seeing something like this."

Fili lifted his head away from his uncle's chest and scoured, tightening his brows in a similar way he had seen Thorin do. "Mum! You s'pposed to be in bed!"

Thorin almost grinned at his nephew's attempts to look stern, but it was hard to take him seriously when he looked so cute doing it. "Bed rest does not mean getting up and walking about."

"I'm pregnant, not elderly," Dis tutted.

Ignoring both brother and son, she waddled – because 'waddle' was the only appropriate word at this late in her pregnancy – into the kitchen. Dis reached for a high shelf but with the large distention of her belly and her naturally short stature, doing even the simplest of things normally so easy for her was now a bit of a chore.

Seeing his sister's struggle, Thorin placed his nephew on his feet then walked himself into the kitchen and grabbed the box of lavender tea bags from the shelf. Dis immediately snatched them out of her brother's hand then grabbed a ceramic mug from a cabinet in which they were kept.

"Dis, sister, I am perfectly capable of making some tea if that is what you want," he said whilst trying to reach for the ceramic mug in her hand, and then the kettle she picked up from the other side of her counter, but she had ripped them both from his reach, leaving Thorin to frown.

She brushed his frown off. "I know you'd rather wait on me hand and foot but I don't need to be babied like a child, Thorin."

"Oin has confined you to bed."

"I'm not going into labor by getting up to make myse- "

With swearing, "Damnit, Dis!", he cut her off and simultaneously slamming his hand on the counter, fixing her with a hard stare, scarcely hearing a whimper from the next room.

The growl in his tone had her rooted on the spot. Unable to move, she met his hard eyes and her own widened considerably. Her brother's temper was unmatched by anyone, save for hers, but there was something there in his voice and in his eyes that scared her.

With a semi-shaky hand, Dis placed both her mug and tea box on the counter then walked back to her bedroom. Thorin stood there for seconds after she left then shifted his smoky eyes to his wide-eyed nephew before harshly snatching a tea bag from the box and the kettle from the counter. Those eyes reallocated to Fili again, and he could see a small amount of terror swimming there.

Thorin abandoned the kettle and tea, and then carried himself into the other room. "Fili…" He bent at his knees then reached a hand towards Fili's hair, only for the lad to recoil away from him, and Thorin realized he had never lost his temper in front of his nephew before. "I'm sorry, lad. Please don't be afraid…" He opened one arm up.

Fili eyed him suspiciously for several seconds. After what he just witnessed, he wasn't sure if he should trust his uncle anymore. His eyes went this way and that, flipping between his uncle's arm and his face. Then, finally, he picked himself off the floor and flung himself into Thorin's arms.

When Thorin's arms wrapped around him and his face was buried in his uncle's chest, he began to relent a little, and calloused fingers started carding through his hair with a soft, "_shhh_" sound that he'd be used to hearing if he was crying or otherwise upset.

"You got loud, Uncle Thorin…" Fili whimpered.

"I know. I'm sorry." He pressed a kiss to his nephew's hair, then, "Listen… " he paused and softly pushed Fili back to look at him, "Uncle Thorin is sorry, okay? I lost my temper and I didn't mean to scare you. I was just- " there was a brief pause, a soft sigh, and his fingers coursing through strands of his nephew's hair, " –I was worried for your mum."

Fili cupped his hands on Thorin's face. "It okay, uncle. You love mummy."

"Yes I do. Very much."

He lifted himself up and pressed a kiss to his uncle's nose, then nestled against his uncle's chest again with a pair of arms curling around him once more. The warmth they offered was more than enough of assurance for him.

Then Thorin started to ask his nephew if he wanted some tea since the thought of it sounded pretty good about now. Fili was just opening his mouth to answer when both were taken aback by the screaming coming from Dis's bedroom.

Thorin was on his feet with his nephew still in his arms when they burst into his sister's room and found her on the floor clutching her belly.

…TO BE CONTINUED.

**There's a reason why I named this three parter The Winter Soldier; Kili is born in the winter, one the same day Frerin was. I set Kili's birth on January 6****th**** because that's the day my little brother was born and like Fili and Kili, we're set five years apart from each other. Seeing as Thorin's little brother was born on that day, -my- little brother was born on that day, I thought it'd be interesting to have Fili's little brother born on that day.**

**Please leave a review. I welcome it.**


	13. The Winter Soldier - Part Two

Chapter Thirteen  
**The Winter Soldier – Part Two**

When Thorin yelled at her, everything went quiet.

His sister stared unblinking at him. Her actions had stilled. There was a hitch in her breathing, and an unsettling feeling in the pit of her belly. A wave poured through her chest. Her heart rate raised at least four extra beats per minute and the slightest of stir in her abdomen had this queasiness seizing her stomach. For several seconds, her body was trembling. It was almost too easy to see that hint of regret in Thorin's eyes but he did not relent the way he stared at her.

With shaky hands, Dis put everything on the counter and walked back to her bedroom. She didn't like making her brother upset. She tried to avoid doing so. Because she knew that whenever Thorin was upset, he started yelling. And his temper was not something she ever wished to experience. It reminded her too much of their father.

She laid herself down on her bed and curled up with a pillow. Only then did she allow her unshed tears to flow.

At the same time, the unsettling feeling in her belly did not go away. A hand subconsciously laid over it. The child was moving at an alarming rate. The more it moved, the more it caused her pain; and, the more she felt sick. This didn't seem right. Not at all. Dis shut her eyes tight as her throat burned. She tried to block out the feeling. But when she couldn't, she tried sitting up and breathing through it. Slow, deep, even breaths. Then she started panicking when a kick at her ribs had her whole body twitching in pain.

Dis lifted a hand to her chest. She could feel her own heart pounding. When she tried moving away from her bed, a sharp pain in her belly brought her down to her knees. She looked up at the door and opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Nothing but a small whimper. Then something warm started trickling down her thighs. She did not have the time to check before a scream was ripped from her throat.

Before she knew what was happening, Thorin was bursting through the door with Fili in his arms. She distinctively heard something akin to a startled panic at his voice but she couldn't really see him clearly as her vision blurred. Then she was in her brother's arms. Then being laid down on the bed. Her pain had her curling up, clutching and clawing at her abdomen.

Thorin put one hand on her belly. When the child kicked, and Dis started whimpering pathetically, he jumped up to his feet again, motioning for his nephew to come, "Stay with your mum," he said, simultaneously lifting the lad onto the bed, then taking his feet across the floor to the bedroom door.

Wide-eyed, Fili shot a look to his uncle. "Where you going?" He started sliding away from his mum until Thorin had fixed him with a hard stare. "Uncle…?"

"Stay with her, Fili," he growled, and Fili skirted back, "that's an order."

And when Thorin gave an order, it was expected to be followed. His voice left no open room for a discussion in any form. Just before leaving the house, he grabbed his heavy coat from the hall and threw it over his broad shoulders. The front door was pulled opened and slammed behind him almost at the same time.

He trekked through the heavy snow in double time. It was difficult given the thickness of the white powder, and the wind constantly biting at his face, but the path to Oin's house blurred into only a few seconds before he was standing in front of it and lifting a fist to pound on the door. He wasn't sure for just how long he had been pounding but the healer looked slightly surprised to see the king standing there looking so out of breath.

Thorin was practically shouting at Oin. "You must come. Quickly!"

The healer and herbalist disappeared into the house only to grab his satchel and boots. When Thorin saw him next, he was accompanied by a midwife.

The three of them barreled through the snow. When they at least reached Thorin and Dis's home, Oin and the midwife – whose name Thorin would later learn to be Aerona – were immediately hurrying towards the princess's bedroom. Thorin heard a few raised voices. He followed them. His sister was having the hardest of times right now, and poor Fili looked like he was trying not to panic.

Thorin called his nephew to come closer and Fili was more than happy to oblige. He practically threw himself at his uncle. Thorin lifted his nephew in his arms and they stood there towards the doorway while Oin was doing a quick physical examination and the midwife was tugging at the skirt of Dis's dress. There are mentions of an accelerated pulse, dilation and other things that Thorin didn't really understand, or just chose not to.

When the midwife is looking at him next, it's on Oin's order to remove them from the room. Fili protests, because he wants to be next to his mum, and Thorin almost glares daggers but the pair leaves under a multitude of curses and swears from Dis's mouth.

When it's just Thorin and Fili in the living room, and they're sitting on the couch in a moment of silence, save for the screaming they heard coming from Dis's bedroom, Thorin just takes some delight in staring at the wall in front of him and for a moment putting his mind elsewhere. And here he is trying to still the trembling of his little nephew whose only concern is for his mum's well being. Thorin didn't really know what to say. He'd like to come up with something and for a second it looked like he did but then the moment past, and he was just silent again.

Meanwhile, the only thing Dis could do was scream.

Hours dragged on, and still there was no news. Just struggling, whimpering crying and the occasional grating scream. Thorin had long since put his nephew in his own bed – because Fili couldn't imagine trying to get some rest in his, and much rather fall asleep with his uncle.

Thorin thought some tea might do him some good. He fixed himself a cup of that lavender tea his sister wanted earlier but even after he finished it, he didn't feel any less concerned. At least once or twice in his brief moments of solitude, he would see his nephew running out to him and starting to cry because sounds of his mum's screaming were waking him, and he couldn't sleep knowing the baby was hurting her.

Before Thorin knew what had come next, he was holding his nephew against his chest and trying to breathe slowly so that Fili would have something to cling to. The pair would eventually nod off together when the hour grew dark and Thorin could no longer keep his eyes open. His world had somehow merged together, and his thoughts were taking him away from the here and now.

.

.

Bruised, bloodied, Thorin Oakenshield swept his feet through the dead and his chest ached with every breath his drew. His heart was still pounding. Oh, the relentless pounding. It just wouldn't stop. Every beat just hurt worse and worse. His breathing was loud and harsh against the chill of autumn. It was autumn? He hadn't even noticed.

His eyes shifted all over the place as he tried to regain what had just happened. Why was he still standing? Logically, he should be dead. But Aule had granted him life. So many dwarrows had fallen and here he was limping through the corpses of people he _knew_.

While he may have known them all, or most of them, at one point or another, they were not the focus of his constantly shifting attention. He was looking for someone. After watching his grandfather be beheaded, and then having that head hurl at him, Thorin's stomach was doing something nasty in his body. The burn of bile rising in his throat was just revolting.

Then, there was a moan of, "_Thorin_," and the crown prince found a strength in his tired legs that he thought he lost.

He found his brother amongst the dead, barely clinging to what remained of his life. When Thorin drops to his knees at Frerin's right, he recognizes the shallow breathing, the blood continuingly pouring from an arrow buried deep in his chest. Thorin tries to pull it out. His brother makes a kind of whimpering, moaning sound the crown prince has never heard before. He leaves it.

His eyes skipped over his brother's body, looking for other injuries; he found them. An orc blade had severed Frerin's spine. Even if the prince did somehow live, his legs would be paralyzed. And Thorin knew his brother would never see another sunrise. His brother was so small, so innocent. He wasn't ashamed to cry. His brother was scared. He didn't want to die. Several times did he ask for something to be done, but Thorin knew nothing could be done. So he held his baby brother in his arms and sang to him. He sang his brother to sleep, like he had done so many of times before. But this time was so different. This time, Frerin would not be there in the morning.

And when the young prince dies, Thorin feels it. He feels the life leaving his brother's body. And the guttural scream ripped from his throat is enough to chill his own blood. He didn't think it was possible for someone to scream like that. He doesn't cry; all he does is scream.

Then there is a hand on his shoulder, and someone calling his name. The voice is strangely familiar to him but he knows it isn't the voice of anyone on the battlefield. Then that same someone is shaking him. Thorin is vaguely aware the only thing remotely important to him was how the sound of his own heartbeat and the blood pooling in his ears are nullifying anything else, but making that voice almost nigh-existent.

Then something draws him back. Suddenly, Thorin's eyes flew open. He awoke gasping. His body trembled.

"Thorin?" the voice called to him, calmly, "you fell asleep."

.

.

Thorin rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

Once he became aware he had been dreaming, and Aerona was standing over him, the dwarf king sat up quickly. His eyes flickered around; the pressure his nephew's body would have put on his chest wasn't there, and he became aware Fili wasn't even around him anymore. He looked to the midwife in a tad panic until Aerona informed him she had moved the lad to his bed.

Another thing Thorin became aware of was the sunlight coming through the window. He immediately asked about his sister but the midwife was unable to give him anything positive. Thorin pushed past her as he crossed over to a basin of water. His hands splashed cold water into his face. Calloused hands brushed over his skin. He stood there at the sink for several seconds before walking to his nephew's room.

Thorin nudged the door open a little. His nephew was curled up under a mound of covers, his small head resting comfortably on a set of pillows. His even breathing had suggested deep sleep. Good for him. At least someone was able to get some sleep around here. Thorin slipped inside the room and sat himself down on the bed. His hand ghosted over Fili's body. He wished in his heart that his nephew didn't have to worry like this but he was glad for the sleep Mahal had granted him.

Aerona soon appeared in the doorway and whispered softly to the king as not to wake his prince. The midwife had beckoned Thorin. The dwarf king placed a soft kiss on Fili's crown – the lad made a very brief moan, and shifted in his sleep – then he left his nephew there to follow Aerona.

When the pair was alone in the hall, the midwife spoke to him in a solemn tone. "It's not good, Thorin," she said, worry and lack of sleep weighing deep in her voice. "Dis has been in labor for over twenty four hours now, and she hasn't made much progress. She is getting weaker. I fear tha-"

"Don't tell me."

"-that she may lose her fight, and we will surely lose them both." She did not relent, not even after her king protested that he didn't want to hear.

Thorin almost glared. "My sister… " a soft groaning came from the bedroom, alerting both king and midwife. Thorin pulled the door shut. "…she is a strong lass. From the line of Durin. She will survive this; there is no other option."

He walked past her to his sister's room and saw Oin standing close to Dis's bed. His sister looked very weak and tired. She did not even lift her head when he entered. Thorin instantly went to her side and kissed her forehead. Dis scarcely made a sound.

He carded his finger through hair dampened with sweat and listened for a moment to her irregular breathing, before speaking in a hushed tone, "You are strong, my sister. You need to do this… if not for me then for your children." When Dis stirred, he immediately took her hand.

"I'm so tired, Thorin…"

"I know." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it, then lifted it away. "But you must think of this child. I know you have the strength in you."

He watched her chest barely rise. Her forehead was hot with fever. Thorin grabbed a rag from a basin of water, wet it then draped it over her. Her eyelids flickered. A sickening feeling hitched in Thorin's throat and he realized that his heart was pounding very badly. He tried to swallow his fear and control that pain in his chest. But then he looked over at Oin as the healer pulled something out from his satchel and unfurled it on a small table.

Thorin left his sister's side and walked over to the elder dwarf as Oin snatched a scalpel from one of the bladed tools. "What are you doing?"

"Her labor is not progressing any faster," the healer said straight forward, then eyed his king with all the strength of his years. "The baby's heartbeat is slowing and Dis can barely stay conscious any longer. Thorin," he paused, briefly, but that pause was enough to sneak in a sigh, "you may have to choose between saving the life of the mother… or the baby."

…TO BE CONCLUDED (next chapter)


	14. The Winter Soldier - Part Three

Chapter Fourteen  
**The Winter Soldier – Part Three**

"_There's a story behind everything…but behind all your stories is always your mother's story…because hers is where yours begins_." –Mitch Albom

There is something so absolute about death; when a person dies, it is said they have _passed away_, _passed on_, or _expired_. Bereft of the life they had, the person is considered a corpse. The term carcass can also be used, though something about it is just so feral and unnatural, usually to connote the remains of an animal. Indications of death are mostly attributed to the cessation of breathing and/or the stillness of a heartbeat. Pallor mortis is a paleness which happens shortly after death, and rigor mortis generally refers to a person's limbs becoming stiff and almost completely unmovable.

Death would refer to the moment at which all life ends.

It finally took the arms of his childhood best friend to bare him away from his brother's cold body, and a tad more pressure on Thorin's arm then Balin initially planned. The crown prince could barely stand without help. And when he was standing, his legs felt so weak that he almost fell again. It was Dwalin who carried Frerin's body back with them.

Those who hadn't died were doing their best to care for the sick or injured, but some whose wounds were beyond repair had dead sometime later. Frerin had been laid on a bed roll not too far from the other dead though with a little more grace as expected for a prince who died before his time.

It took both sons of Fundin to lift Thorin onto a gurney, and at least another dwarf to hold him down while one of the healers looked him over and dressed his injuries. He sported no life-threatening injuries and save for the deep laceration in his shoulder – something that would affect him for the rest of his life; a pain that would flare up when the weather got bad – that cut close to the bone, Thorin was surprisingly healthy.

Somewhere between the cleaning and the stitching and the whimpering and the quickening of his breathing, there was a hand on him. For sure the person could feel the way his heart was throwing itself about in his chest. There was a voice. It was asking about his condition.

He must have passed out while his shoulder was being repaired. When at last he opened his eyes again, his sister was standing over him. It took him a bit to realize that it was, in fact, _her_, and he tried sitting up. A silent moment past between siblings. It was only seconds before tears were coming out of Thorin's eyes. She slipped in behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, being mindful of the large bandage taped across his injury.

He can hear her heart beating. The way it _thump-thumps_ in his own head makes him feel at peace. But it can't stop the hurting. He bites through the pain in his shoulder and grabs onto her arm. Having something physical to cling to seem to make it better. She pushes back through his hair and kisses his forehead. She whispers to him. And Thorin…he tries to make sense of it all; his grandfather, father – though no one had so much as seen him since, and most assumed he had perished – and his precious baby brother. There was nothing that could bear him hence. Nothing that could make him forget the anguish he felt when his brother's heart stilled under his hand.

Suddenly he was back in her bedroom, under the flicker of candlelight, and he feels how slow her heart beats now. What it will mean when it finally stops. He reaches for her forehead and he doesn't know if it's the heat from the flame or the fire radiating from his own hand that gives warmth to Dis's skin. But Thorin does know one thing; he can't be here.

And so he tears himself away from her side. Oin and Aerona do not stop him. Thorin is leaving because he refuses to watch his sister die; like he saw his grandfather die, and his brother. It's not something he can bring himself to do. What if the child lived? Thorin would be preparing a funeral for his sister, and raising two children, one of which never knowing the comfort of his or her true parentage.

At first he decided to stop in front of his nephew's room. It was several seconds later when he pushed the door open a tad and peaked his head in. Fili was still sound asleep. Thorin would like to keep it that way; if his mum was to die, his uncle would not want for him to be there to witness it. No child as young as he should be aware of death. He had barely begun to get past the death of his da.

Thorin passed himself to outside despite the snow that he let up only a little but not enough to comfort him any more, or any less. Maybe the snow had somehow flushed away his tears when each flake faded on his cheek. He dragged his palms down the front of his face. A very small gesture in the waiting darkness. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be. And for the love he bore his small family, there was no way he could make this kind of decision. It wasn't right. He- he just couldn't do it. But then, after all, one way or another, and if he didn't make the choice, no doubt one would be made for him by the cruel twist of time.

Somewhere behind him, Thorin heard a softened whimper and he hoped for a moment it would be his sister; though that would be impossible, wouldn't it? And then it was, "_uncle_?" that he him turning his head around to see the front door open and a young dwarfling standing there, shivering from the cold.

Thorin immediately swept back and gathered Fili in his arms before shutting the door behind him. The pair trekked into the kitchen when the lad cried about being hungry and "_why isn't mum making me food?_" and "_where is she?_". Good lord; he couldn't tell the child, the very young boy whom he now looked onto as a son.

"What do you want, Fili?" he asked his nephew, knowing that perhaps his cooking skills weren't as great as his sister's, and he couldn't make everything the lad might want, but he was already grabbing for a cooking pot hanging over the cast iron stove.

He ended up making soup. It definitely wasn't his specialty and he could tell his nephew wasn't a fan of it, but that Fili scoffed it down none-the-less; although Thorin suspected the lad did this in order to make his uncle believe he was enjoying his meal. And afterward, when he was cleaning up, and Fili was sitting quietly at the table just minding himself, they heard screaming coming from Dis' bedroom.

Thorin nearly dropped the dish he was cleaning in order to run after Fili, who had leapt to his feet and taken off to his mum's bedroom. He skidded to a short stop just behind his nephew, and looked across the room to the large bed, and the woman falling back onto her pillows just after a strong contraction. Her chest was moving more rapidly now, as if coming out a mile long run. He tried to stop his nephew from running to his mum's side but his hands weren't quite fast enough and now Fili was pulling himself up on the bed.

Controlling her breathing, and ignoring the beads of sweat glistening her forehead, Dis pulled a shaking arm around her son and pulled him in close. "Hey baby," she whispered, clearly barely able to talk in a normal tone now, and the midwife was busy checking her again, "Mama loves you, you know that…right?"

"Yes mum." He snuggled up to her so close that the warmth of her body was almost feverish, before he pulled back. "Mum, why is my sister not here yet?" He only looked back at his uncle, Oin and midwife Aerona for a few seconds before he looked back at his mum with curious, questioning eyes.

"I think- " Dis' breathing hitched in her chest, and she felt her son's body shake a tad, so she tightened her hold on him the best she could, " –she is too comfortable and too warm in mama's belly. She doesn't like the cold, and that's why she doesn't want to come out."

"Well, she should. I wanna play!" He pouted a bit and just when his mum was placing a kiss on his brow, her head fell back into her pillows and her mouth opened in a scream. "Mum!" He tried to sit up and reach for her, only for Oin to shout "_get him out!_" and his uncle's arms to carry him from the bedroom, his legs kicking the entire way.

Fili continued screaming long after the door had been thrown shut and Thorin had taken him into the living room.

Thorin sat down on the couch and continued holding the young lad against him until the dwarfling stopped his struggles, either because he was getting too tired or he just didn't have enough fight in him any longer. When Fili looked at him next, there was tears swimming in his smoky blue hues and poor Thorin didn't know how to not have them there.

Fili started asking about his mum and why she was hurting so badly and if what she told him was true about his sister not wanting to come out because she was too warm. Thorin paused. He didn't know whether he should tell the lad of what was likely to happen or not, or exactly how to tell him. Of course he'd like to say that his mum would be fine, and the baby too, but he just might be lying and he would rather not lie to his nephew.

"Fili… " his eyes felt like lead, he was tired, but he was also trying to fight back the tears and the hurt in his heart, "I'm going to need you to be real brave alright?" His nephew nodded, though looked at him a tad confused. "Your mum – she… she's having a real difficult time bringing your baby sister to us."

The blonde-haired dwarfling started to fling himself off Thorin's lap, "I help!" he cried, before he was dragged back. "Why can't I help her? I wanna help!" He beat his tiny fist against his uncle's right leg. He should not be so cruel as to stop him from helping his mum.

"You can't because- " his voice faded off because he was choking on a sob, and the look his nephew was giving him made it almost obvious that he wasn't hiding his pain as well as he thought, "Fili, it may just be you, me and your sister from now on."

"…_why_? What's gonna happen to mum?"

"She," he cleared his throat; clearly this was not something he wanted to be telling his little nephew, especially whilst talking about his own flesh and blood, "…she's going to be with your da soon."

And at that point, Fili's eyes were watering; he knew his da was dead, which was surprising for such a young dwarfling, to know what death was and have somewhat of an understanding for it. For Thorin, it was such a surreal thing to be able to say firmly that his sister was going to die. That feeling kept churning in his stomach. He felt like vomiting just thinking about it. The fact the words actually came out of his mouth – maybe not straight forward, but still – was so definite.

It took at least another hour for Thorin to calm him down. And when he did, his uncle had noticed the lad had cried himself to sleep. Good. Just as he thought before, Fili wouldn't be awake when his mum died. Though he'd wake up in the morning and know for sure.

Just when Thorin fell back with a sigh and about resigned himself to try and get some more sleep – the day and night were just blurring together – he could hearing what sounded like a tiny lamb bleating. He sat up almost instantly, his energy renewed. He looked at his nephew and thought about waking him but decided against it, instead throwing a heavy blanket over him.

Thorin jumped to his feet and raced towards his sister's room. He hesitated right before the door. But just as he lifted a hand to push it open, the midwife had come into the hall and announced he had a very healthy nephew. Now, for the past several months they were expecting a girl, but imagine Thorin's surprise when that changed. He looked past her into the room and could see Oin wrapping the baby boy in a small swaddling cloth. Oh gods, Thorin's heart was in his throat.

Then the door opened again and the bundle was placed in his arms. The dwarf king looked at his baby nephew with some new appreciation for life. When at least he pushed back the flap of the cloth, he nearly gasped; the boy had the darkest brown hair he'd seen – like Frerin's, and his eyes when those lids blinked open, they weren't smoky blue like his or Fili's but a deep hazel, almost brown, like Kildri's were, perhaps some of Frerin's too. Then something else dawned on him; today would have been his brother's one hundred and thirteenth birthday. His heart stilled for a moment. His brother and nephew shared a birthing day.

Once this realization had faded, he looked at the pair and asked about his sister in the best non-shaky voice he could muster. Oin and Aerona looked at him in a very sullen way, and Thorin knew. Again, his heart had stilled. No. God, please no. He looked at his nephew again, his -son-, and wept openly at the thought.

He must have not even been paying attention when Aerona took the infant from Thorin's arms. His hands were grabbing at air. Then there was whispers coming from Oin, but the king couldn't really make them out. His world went numb. As Oin was walking away, Thorin gathered himself and walked into the bedroom. Dis looked so…peaceful; if death was supposed to be.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead then dropped to his knees and took her hands. "You have a son, Dis. And he looks just like our brother." He tightened his grip. "You can't be dead. You just can't be. You can't leave me alone with them. I…I don't even know what I'm doing. Those boys need their mother… and I need my sister…"

When he looked at her face again, he would _swear_ he saw her lids twitching.

"He's so beautiful, Dis. Oh Mahal… and he doesn't even have a name. Please! You can't do this to me. I beg of you."

And then, something happened…

"…Kili."

His heart jumped into his throat. "…What?" When he looked at her face, there seemed to be more life to it then when he first came in and saw her laying there.

"His name is Kili."

"Kili," he nodded, and then kissed her knuckles, "you got it. By Mahal, you scared me."

Dis found some strength to card her fingers through his hair. "I believe Frerin was with us tonight. I could feel him…"

"I think you're right."

It was just a little bit later when Oin came in and checked her over, and just a very short time after that when Aerona walked in; the swaddling bundle cradled in her right arm and her left hand walking Fili through the door.

He scrambled up to his mum's side and practically assaulted her with kisses. Then a still weary, pale-skinned Dis was handed over her newborn son. Her eyes watered when he was placed into her arms. She drew her five year old close to her and lowered the bundle, but he had pushed himself up a little on the bed to get a better look. The baby opened his eyes once Fili had looked at him, and Fili looked at his mum with a smile.

"Fili… " his mum said with a teary smile, "meet your brother… Kili."

**Okay, so, I didn't want to kill off Dis. At the end, I thought it would be really cruel especially because I already tortured the crap out of Thorin and Fili; it just wouldn't be fair. Now, I'm probably gonna start working on a spin-off called Papa Bear so I'm not sure if this is going to be it or not. And if it is, then there will be an epilogue.**

**Please comment 3**


	15. Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Fili groaned, stretched and then shirked back and squinted his eyes; the sun was much too bright this morning. And his head was pounding. He buried mounds of blonde curls under heavy pillows and mumbled something incoherent. Then his pillows started responding. Wait, pillows don't talk. It must either be that massive hangover he was nursing or—

Suddenly an arm was wrapping over his shoulders. Fili pulled his head back. It snapped up faster than expected, causing a throbbing sensation at the base of his skull he was sure to regret later. There was a series of mumbles, followed by a pair of lips assaulting his shoulder blades. Fili cracked open his eyelids. He blinked away the cloud fogging his vision, and a dark-haired lass was right there before him.

She looked right at him, smiling, with a "_good morning_" and Fili's heart had dropped. It was morning wasn't it? He couldn't remember half of last night and what he did remember didn't make much sense to him. He opened his mouth to respond before the lass's lips were on his. He gave her a light push then sat up and dragged his hands down the front of his face. The lass's face scrunched up before she pulled herself up.

There was a muffled, "We had sex, didn't we?" into the palm of his hands, before they dropped to his lap and he eyed his bed mate questionably.

"You don't remember?"

Fili eyed her curiously, and then looked around the room; clothes had been thrown everywhere, some of the furniture had been overturned and a few of the wall hangings were cocked at awkward angles. His eyes widened. Mahal oh mighty, how drunk _was_ he last night? And what in Middle Earth possessed him to sleep with some random bar matron? Shit.

He looked back at the lass and tried to recall what her name was – surely she had told him at some point during his binge, but for some reason it wasn't coming to him; the sheer amount of alcohol consumed must have blocked that part out. He started spitting out names like "_Hilde_", "_Brede_" and "_Aigiel_" but with the way her face was turning and the way her brows were narrowing, he knew none of those were it.

He held up a single finger saying, "Don't worry, I'll get this…" before he became the unfortunate recipient of an open-palmed slap on his cheek.

The lass grabbed her discarded dress and slipped it over her shoulders then slipped out of bed and fixed her hair. She didn't even dignify the young prince with a passing glance before snatching her shoes and slamming the door behind her as she left, causing Fili to wince at the offending noise.

He collapsed back in bed, burying his face once more under his pillows. He was known for taking a lass to his bed once in a while but he always made an effort to know her name first before stripping her down; this, this was just pathetic and sad. Getting so drunk that he ended up sleeping with someone random, and not being able to recall her name? It wasn't like him.

The door opened again. Fili pulled his head back thinking it might be that girl coming back but was somewhat disappointed when he saw his brother flying into the room yelling, "_Get up! Get up! We're gonna be late!"_ without even realizing this massive headache assaulting his brother's head.

Fili eyed him. "…late fooor what?" His speech was still a little slurred, and Kili was now rolling his eyes at him, causing the blonde-haired dwarf to groan. "Ugh, don't play games with me, little brother. M'head's hurts."

Kili latched onto Fili's hand and started yanking. "They're leaving without us, Fee!"

Now it was coming back to him, and Fili was remembering what it was he was supposed to be doing today. With an undignified swear, he threw himself out of bed, and a wide-eyed Kili turned around to give his brother privacy. Fili scrambled about the room to find his clothes and dressed rather quickly as soon as he had them gathered, nearly tripping over himself as he tugged on his boots.

The brothers raced outside. In what seemed like only minutes – when it had actually taken just a little less than an hour – they had barreled through their front door. On the kitchen table was note scribbled in their mother's handwriting; apparently she had traveled with their uncle to some meeting and wouldn't be home for several hours.

The boys gathered their weapons from their bedroom, and where Kili left his bow and quiver of arrows in his usual spot. The more coherent and sober Kili scribbled out a note for their mother and left it there next to the other. They left the house just as quickly as they got there.

Fili and Kili saddled up their ponies in a rather hurry; Fili with a little more determination than his brother. The stable boy said nothing at the older prince's disheveled look. Once the brothers seemed satisfied they had everything in order, they mounted the ponies and took off.

Good thing Kili was able to remember which way they were going; Fili ended up getting them lost a number of times.

Arriving in Bag End less than a month later, the brothers found themselves staring at a hole-in-the-ground hobbit hole, and a dwarf rune scratched upon the door. When it was opened, the occupant had whimpered, looking dismayed at the very least.

"…Fili."

"And Kili…"

"At your service!"

**That's it guys. Thank you again for reading this story and keeping with me through it all; I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it! There will be a spin-off coming up called Papa Bear, basically detailing Thorin's relationship with the boys so yes, in a way it is another story about Fili and Kili growing up. **

**Again, please review and leave your praises! THANK YOU ALL. Much love 3**


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